Everything I'm Not
by MystiKoorime
Summary: Hiei's the tempermental fire demon, and Botan's the always cheery ferry girl. There's no way in the three worlds they can love eachother...right? HxB
1. Ill Help You

Everything I'm Not 

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

Telepathy

((My Notes))

Ok, so I know I shouldn't be starting a new story, when I barely finished my old ones...but I couldn't help myself! Oh yeah, as in all of my other stories, Hiei is about Botan's height. He's not as tall as Kuwabara or Koenma...like somewhere between Yusuke and Kurama's height. Vague, I know but..you guys have imaginative minds right!

Chapter 1

Botan hummed to herself as she flew through the blue skies of ningenkai. She was wearing her traditional pink kimono, and her hair was tied up in it's normal ponytail, with the exception of a few blue strands that layed upon her face. Her legs hung loosely over her thin wooden oar. She flew through the air with such expertise, one would think she was born for flying. The woman had such a cheerful demeanor that nobody in their right mind would ever guess she was the Grim Reaper. Instead of being some ghostly figure in a black cloak with a psycthe, she was a bubbly woman who always had a smile on her face.

Koenma had given her the day off, so she decided to spend it with her friends. Botan had her own apartment, thanks to the Prince. Landing in a secluded spot, the blue haired deity got off her oar, and it dematerialized.

She first walked to Yusuke's house, hoping not to encounter a drunk Atsuko. With a knock on the door she waited for Yusuke to open the door with a grin and ask her how she's been doing, the same old routine. Instead a somber, cheerful Atsuko answered. "Oh, hello Botan. Yusuke's not here right now; he's probably at Keiko's."

"Thanks, I'll just be going then. Bye Atsuko-san." Botan stated as she left for Keiko's parents shop. To her misfortune, no one was there. At Kuwabara's house, neither Shizuru or Kuwabara was there. Lastly, Kurama was not home either. Hiei was definitely out of the question...he'd probably kill her for asking to spend the day with him. 'Hmm...I could go to visit Yukina and Genkai...I haven't seen them in ages...' Botan thought with a smile.

Deciding she should buy something to eat before she left for Genkai's, Botan bought some ice cream and sat near a bench right outside the deserted park. While in the middle of devouring one of her favorite meals, Botan heard a rustle in the trees. "Probably just a squirrel..." she spoke to herself as she continued eating.

A few moments later,she heard a loud thud behind her. Surprised, Botan dropped her ice cream to the ground and quickly ran into the park to see what it was. As she ran further into the park she stopped when she saw a black cloaked figure struggling to get up. _'Hiei..'_ Botan thought in shock as she quickly ran over to him.

"What on earth happened to you!" Botan asked him with concern seepinginto her features. "Let me be; I don't need you or anyone else to tend to me." Hiei answered harshly as he struggled to stand up.

"Hiei, you're hurt really badly...you should come back to my apartment. I can heal you." Botan persisted, knowing Hiei's stubborn nature. "Hn. Are you deaf onna? I said I can take care of myself. I'm not some weak little boy who constantly needs help from others," Hiei replied arrogantly.

"I know you're strong and can handle yourself, Hiei. But, I think it would be best if you let me help you this once. You look like you're losing a lot of blood, and those wounds can get infected! Would you rather end up dying than receiving help from a friend?" Botan asked trying to convince Hiei to come back with her. _'Friend? She considers me a friend...what a baka...I could care less what happens to her, and yet she stills cares about me'_ Hiei thought, ignoring Botan as he stood up shakily.

Despite the pounding of his head and the agony of his wounds, Hiei pressed on as if nothing happened. He took a few stepsbefore fatigue and weariness took over. Hiei crouched down in pain, and Botan ran up to him once again. "Hey, if you let me take care of you just this once, I'll never, ever bother you again!" Botan stated knowing that would catch Hiei's attention.

He looked up from his crouched position, at the deity beside him. _'Maybe I should just go. Then she'd finally shut up.'_ Hiei thought as he answered, "Fine onna, do whatever you want." Botan smiled sincerely as she mounted her oar and patted the space for Hiei to sit. Hesitantly, Hiei mounted her oar.

"It would be a good idea to hold on tight." Botan answered as, without a warning, she took off. The momentum was enough to push an already-weak Hiei off of the oar, but Hiei was able to grab onto Botan's waist before he met his unfortunate end. "Dammit onna, don't you know how to give a warning when you do something like that!" Hiei told her aggitated.

"I told you to hold on tight..." Botan blushed as she realized Hiei was gripping her waist. Trying to subdue the blush, Botan concentrated on flying to the apartment, and not about the Koorime's arms. Botan saw her apartment building coming into view. Her window was open as usual, and, deciding not to waste time, she flew right through the window and into the confines of her apartment.

They both got off of Botan's oar, and once again it vanished into thin air. "Take a seat on the couch Hiei. I'll be right back," Botan said as she walked into the bathroom to find her bandages and hydrogen peroxide.

Botan came back to find Hiei draped over her couch, unconscious. "Well, at least now I don't have to convince him to stay here and rest..." Botan said to herself as she walked over to the couch. With much effort she managed to get the cloak off of Hiei. _'Now I have to take his shirt off...'_ Botan thought with a blush. Even though she was tending to the wounds of her friend, she felt hesitant to do it. She almost felt nervous.

Botan straddled Hiei, with one leg on the floor and the other leg bended on the couch. She gripped the bottom of his shirt and with a tug she pulled it over his stomach, his chest, his shoulders, his arms, and finally his head.

On Hiei's chest there were a few deep slashes, from a demon's claws, no doubt. On his abdomen rested a few small bruises, and one deep wound, which kept on bleeding. After cleaning it with the peroxide, Botan placed the bandages over his wounds to try and stop the excessive bleeding. Thankfully, it worked.

The Deity would've tried to heal him with her White Magic, but after a long day of ferrying souls, she was exhausted as well. After all, she had used her spirit energy to move oar to different parts of the world. After a few hours of that, most ferry girls would be asleep by now. Botan was used to it however. Although her spirit energy was depleted for the time being, she still had the motivation to care for her friends.

Botan looked at the gem adorning Hiei's neck. It was a tear gem. "It's beautiful.." Botan said aloud, as she subconciously fingered it. It was about the size of a marble, and had an icy glow. _'Could this be Yukina's...or Hiei's? No, it looks different some how...'_ Then she remembered.

When a Koorime gives birth, she sheds a tear. When the tear gem is crystalized it is different from all the original ones. _'It's probably his mother's tear gem.'_ Botan smiled at the thought. At least he had something of his mother's to remember her by.

Botan sat down on the floor, beside the couch. She watched Hiei with sympathy in her eyes. _'What happened to him? Probably a Makai brawl...But why didn't he want my help? Doesn't he realize by now that he's part of the team and, as the team's assistant, that I will always be there to help? As a friend, I'll always be there to help as well...'_ Botan thought as she drifted off to sleep.

Hiei, on the other hand, had woken up while she was fingering the gem. He used the Jagan eye to tell what she was thinking and heard every one of her thoughts. _'Why is that onna so set on helping me? I could sense her weariness from the moment she stepped close to me. She should learn to tend to herself before tending to others,'_ Hiei thought before he drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later, Botan woke up. It was already dark, and the sky was blanketed with stars. Before she could even stand up, the commmunication mirror went off. She flipped it open to reveal Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Hey Botan, we called you like a thousand times already! Whe-" Kuwabara started.

"-What the heck have you been doing with Hiei?" Yusuke asked as he cocked his head to the side. Botan blushed remembering Hiei was sleeping on the couch with no shirt on. Before she could answer, Hiei spoke.

"What does it look like?" Hiei asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world as he sat up on the couch. "Well, it looks like you two just had a one-on-one session, if you know what I mean!" Yusuke answered with his eyebrows raised. Botan's eyes widened as the blush deepend.

"N-no w-why would you even t-thing of something so, so-" Botan stammered.

"-Ludicrous." Hiei answered as he abruptly got up and put on his shirt. "Where are you going?" Botan asked as she stood up to face him. "I've got to do something." He answered without so much of a thanks.

"Well that was odd...," Botan thought as she absentmindedly clicked off the commnuication mirror. Her thoughts led her back to Hiei and the previous conversation. _'Sleeping with me isn't all that ludicrous...I mean Hiei is man-, well he's a demon and I'm a woman-, ferry girl. But what's so ludicrous about that? Odd, yes. But ludicrous? So we're opposites, but that doesn't mean we can't be together or anything. I-'_ Great. Now she sounded perverted and desperatley in love with Hiei. She quickly dismissed all thoughts of the subject.

She looked out the window and the thoughts of Hiei came back again. _'I wonder why he was in such a rush to leave?'_


	2. Botan's Mystery Man

Everything I'm Not 

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Telepathy

((My Notes))

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and never ever will. If I did, Hiei and Botan would've gotten married by now. Haha. Sorry the update took so long. T.T

Chapter 2: Botan's Mystery Man

He _had_ to leave.

He _had_ to get away.

And he _had_ to stay away from her.

It was truly odd. Just being in her presence was, suffocating, to say the least. He had become so comfortable around her in such a short amount of time. It had always been like this, ever since the beginning.

He remembered when they first met. She arrived with the Yusuke, trying to save Keiko. He thought she was stupid, and confirmed his suspicions when she tried to close the eye in Keiko's forehead. Why would she even bother trying to undo the damage he had already caused? What could her white magic possibly do? It was futile, really. But that's not the point. From that moment on, he had gotten used to her just being there.

In the Dark Tournament, she was always with them, claiming to be their 'trainer'. Hiei would've laughed in her face if he wasn't so involved in the battles. Yusuke and Kuwabara warned her about being around the danger many times, and even Hiei told her she should stay away from the ring. Still, she never listened. She was always concerned about the team.

Then there was the mess with Sensui. Even though Hiei had resigned for a while, whenever he was there, so was she. Botan followed them to the house where Yusuke was being held hostage, even though the others advised her against it. She said she was the only one who could use the Spirit Gadgets. She even had her soul taken away, but did she complain? No. She was truly a team player, always doing what was best for the whole group.

He couldn't figure her out. Why could she always see the good in people? What is it that keeps her so pure and untainted?

And why . . .

Why was he still thinking about her?

With a sigh Hiei leapt off the branch he was sitting in, and landed on the ground, careful not to make any noise. Whizzing past trees and tall buildings, Hiei let his feet do the thinking as he found himself on a branch next to Botan's apartment window. She had fallen asleep in a chair next to the window, and her head was resting on the window sill.

"Baka onna." Hiei stated as he leapt through the opened window. Quietly closing it, he looked down at her and against better judgment, he picked her up. She stirred a bit in his arms but stopped when she opened her eyes. "Hiei . . . ?", Botan whispered in a state of drowsiness.

"Go back to sleep onna." Hiei placed her on the couch he was sleeping on not too long ago. She smiled solemnly, "Thanks Hiei." With a small yawn she soon fell back to sleep, and Hiei let himself out. Silently cursing at himself for being so soft, Hiei strode past the empty park.

After much contemplation, Hiei figured he only did this to repay her for healing him. There was nothing more to it than that.

* * *

"No, you've got to be kidding me. Are you sure? Maybe you were dreaming." Keiko blurted out uncertainly, her mind clouded with doubts. "Of course I'm not joking, Keiko. And yes I'm sure. I mean how could I fall asleep next to the window, and wake up on the couch!" Botan replied finally.

"Sorry I just . . . I mean I . . . Hiei's just so-"

"-Stoic" Botan finished.

"Yeah . . . ," Keiko trailed off.

"Keiko, please don't tell the other guys about it. I don't know if Hiei would want them knowing about it." Botan pleaded hands clasped in front of her. Keiko giggled knowingly, "Of course! Your secret is safe with me. Ano, is anything going on with you and Hiei?"

"I-uh, I don't know what you mean . . . "

"You know, are you guys having a secret love affair behind our backs? I mean, I know it isn't what you'd expect . . . but the best things in life are purely based on surprise! -"

"-Um Keiko, I think you're-"

"-Like proposals, surprise birthday parties, getting an A on a test that you barely studied for-"

"-Keiko! I assure you. Nothing is going on between Hiei and me. Think of it as a friendly gesture," Botan suggested while picking up the tray of sandwiches and walking outside, intent on ending this conversation. She could feel the blush that was creeping its way onto her cheeks.

"Damn, what took you two so long!" Yusuke, followed by Kuwabara, hurried over to the two girls and began eating. "Yusuke," Keiko started while watching Yusuke eat his third sandwich. "Stop acting like such a pig, save some for the others!"

"I wouldn't try to stop him, nothing can get in the way of Yusuke and food." Kurama picked up his own sandwich. Hiei was the only one that refrained from eating, and Botan seemed to be the only one who noticed.

"Hiei, you're not eating"

"No. I'm not hungry."

"Come on, when's the last time you had a decent meal?"

"That's none of your business."

"Please, just one!"

_Didn't she promise that she'd leave me alone if I let her help me? Hn. There she goes again, worrying about everyone._ "Fine, if that's the only way to shut you up." Hiei nearly snatched the sandwich off of the plate and took a bite. "Satisfied?"

"Yup." She answered smiling brightly, neither one of them catching the grin on Keiko's face. Botan watched Hiei intently making sure he finished the last of his sandwich. While watching him she noticed, he wasn't bad looking at all. In fact he was, dare she say it, hot.

His crimson eyes suited him all too well. They were perfect for battle; hawk-like enough to calculate swift movements in battle, yet watch over his sister with a sort of gentleness. His spikes that defied gravity fit well with his disrespect for authority, and uncordial nature. Not to mention that smirk he usually had on his face. She could ramble on about how cute she thought it was. Yes, cute. Only Botan could think a smirk was cute.

_What am I doing thinking about Hiei like this? Do I really like him? That's absurd! He's my friend, my comrade! So what if he's ridiculously good-looking, amazingly strong, and loyal? Any guy can have those qualities if you look hard enough- oh who am I kidding. It is hard to find a guy like that but still. I can't have feelings for Hi-_

"Botan!" Kuwabara waved his hand in front of her face for the fourth time, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Huh? What?" Botan answered blinking a few times. "I bet she was thinking about Koenma!" Yusuke grabbed another sandwich.

"WHAT? Why would I be daydreaming about Koenma? He's my friend and my _boss_. And plus, how could I think about two different men at the same time? . . . Oops!" Botan quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Damn her and her tendency to blabber. "Aaah, so there's a mystery man we don't know about? C'mon tell us who he is!", Yusuke coaxed.

"Nu-uh!" Botan stuck out her tongue in a playful manner. There was no way anyone was going to find out about her small crush on Hiei. "Give us some hints, at least. I bet it's someone we know," Kuwabara practically begged.

"Oh fine. He's ugly, weak, and a womanizer. There." Botan replied sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "We can just get Hiei to read your mind, and tell us who he _really_ is!" Yusuke glanced at Hiei, "Then again maybe we better ask Kurama. What do you say, your fox-ish mind could really help us out you know?" Kurama shook his head, "I think I'll leave Botan to sort out her own love problems."

"Fine then, Kuwabara and I can figure this out on our own!" Kuwabara nodded in reply to response to Yusuke's comment. "Oh please guys! For all you know he could be some guy in Spirit World, that none of us know. I say you two give up on it." Keiko scolded, all the while knowing that Botan's mystery man was Hiei. She almost giggled at the thought. Hiei and Botan. Complete opposites, and everything the other was not.

Yeah, I know I took forever to update. Sorry. T.T I was on hiatus for a looong time, and everytime I tried to do this story, I would end up deleting it because I didn't like how it turned out. Same thing with Opposites Always Attract. I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please review ) and thanks to everyone else who was so kind and reviewed. YAY! Hehe.


	3. Truth or Dare

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Telepathy

((My Notes))

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and never ever will.

Chapter 3: Truth or Dare

It had officially been a week since Botan had last seen Hiei. Seven days without even hearing from him once. That was a whole one-hundred and sixty eight hours! It's not like mattered, though.

Really it didn't matter at all...

Who was she kidding, of course it mattered! Absence makes the heart fonder, isn't that what they say? Ever since Botan figured out that she had feelings for Hiei, he was all that she could think about.

Everything reminded her of him. Her favorite red nail polish looked like the color of his eyes. Needless to say, Botan threw it in the garbage because it was driving her crazy. _I wonder what he's doing right now._ Botan sighed as she put her hair into its familiar ponytail.

She was determined to find him, spend a whole day with him, and see if she still liked him. Avoiding him didn't seem to be doing any good. Maybe, spending time with him would help her sort out all her problems. I mean, Botan could never know if these feelings were real if she avoided him for the rest of her life, right?

Maybe after staying with him for a whole day, she'd change her decision. Maybe she'd come to see that Hiei was the same person he was since they met, a ruthless, uncaring, demon. Maybe the only reason she liked him because you always want what you can't have. Who knows, only time will tell.

* * *

Hiei leaned back in his favorite tree, without a care in the world. Actually, there was one thing bothering him, and it came in the form of a bubbly, pink kimono wearing ferry girl.

The slightest things would cause him to think of her. The sky looked like her hair, not exactly the same color, but it was blue. A young boy picked up a branch that looked oddly like Botan's oar. It was frustrating. Never once had he had to deal with these kinds of feelings. Hate or rage he could deal with, but this feeling was new to him. Hiei didn't even know what it was. _I'll just ask the fox later_. Hiei thought to himself as he closed his eyes, determined to fall asleep.

"Hiei!" A voiced called from below him. Damn it, now he was even _hearing_ her in his thoughts. "Hiei!" There it was again, her voice. Maybe if he just ignored it, he'd stop hearing her voice.

Frustrated by Hiei's lack of attention, Botan got on her oar and flew up to him. "Hiei?" Botan called out once more, only to see him shut his eyes tighter. _Is he ignoring me?_ Botan flew a little closer to him, and poked his arm. Hiei opened his eyes to be greeted by none other than Botan. "What do you want?"

"W-well I was just wondering. I mean don't you get tired of staying in that tree all day long?"

"No."

"Right. Uh, so, would you mind..." Botan twiddled with her fingers as she tried to get the words out.

"Just get out with it already." Hiei answered, clearly annoyed.

Botan sighed, "Do you want to go to Genkai's Temple with me to visit Yukina?" _Please, please, please let him say yes! _

"I know you might not want to go with me, but since I'm going anyway I figured we could go together. If you're not planning to go, then it's okay. I'm not forcing you to do this or anything, I was just-"

"I'll go." Hiei jumped off the branch he was lying on and landed on the grass. Botan followed suit and dematerialized her oar. "Really!" Surprise was etched on to her features. She didn't think it would be this easy. "She gets worried when I don't visit." Was all Hiei said in reply. "Well then, let's go!" Botan smiled as they began walking through the woods, towards Genkai's temple.

"So are your wounds from before completely healed?"

"Yes, but you didn't have to help me. They would've healed on their own, eventually."

"I know, but I couldn't just leave you there! Who knows what could've happened to you? Plus, I wanted to help you." Botan smiled at him while walking just a little bit closer to him.

"...Thanks." Hiei mentally sighed. When was the last time he thanked somebody, considering he ever _had _thanked somebody. He could see it already, he was changing just as Kurama did. No, he refused to let some woman make him weak. He _owed _it to Botan to at least thank her. He wasn't doing this because he cared, it was just that damn honor code of his.

"Y-you're welcome, Hiei." Botan answered with disbelief. _He actually said thank you. I don't think I've ever heard Hiei say that. Well not to me at least. Yes we're making progress! _Progress? Where did that come from? The whole point of today was to see if there was anything between them, not force them to get closer. This was all too confusing. It was kind of nice, though. Just her and Hiei.

Botan was snapped out of her thoughts as her foot got caught in a root. With an, "oomph!" she fell on the ground, dirtying her kimono. "Stupid root..." Botan attempted to dust of her kimono while standing up. Absentmindedly, she blew a stray hair out of her face. "It's not funny, Hiei."

Wait. Hiei was..._laughing_! That's it, the world must be ending. Botan looked towards the sky for any signs of impending doom. No fire and brimstone, no natural disasters, no nothing. Just a clear blue sky, and white puffy clouds that floated without a care in the world.

She listened a little harder, and he was in fact laughing. Botan smiled a little while listening. _I don't think I ever heard Hiei laughing before. It sounds...kinda nice. Could Hiei be opening up to me? I think he is! I mean it's not like he laughs all that often... I bet Kurama never even heard him laugh! Okay, so maybe Kurama heard him laugh. But I doubt Yusuke or Kuwabara ever heard him laugh! Maybe an evil cackle or two, but not areal laugh._

"I'll have you know, that hurt a lot Hiei!" Botan added with fake hurt.

"You should have watched where you were going instead of daydreaming." Hiei smirked. "Well, at least we're almost there. I can get myself cleaned up at Genkai's place." Botan tried to dust herself off once more as they continued walking.

Botan blushed. So the enigma around Hiei was finally dissipating. They haven't been around each other for long, but Botan felt like they became closer. She didn't know how, or when...but she wasn't scared of him anymore.

Hiei was just a regular guy, like Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. He just had a different way of showing how he felt. Instead of being brash like Yusuke or Kuwabara, or keeping his emotions in check like Kurama, Hiei bottled everything up. Sooner or later he was bound to let some of them out, and when he did Botan would be right there to see them all.

Finally, they reached the endless flight of stairs that led to Genkai's Temple. "Hello?" Botan opened the door. "Anybody home?" No response. "Genkai? Yukina?" Botan called out as she walked further inside the temple. "No one's here." Hiei told her. "H-huh? How do you- Oh. Spirit Energy." Botan replied sheepishly. "I bet they just went to get food or something...they shouldn't take _that _long. Plus, it would be a waste to walk all the way back home."

Hiei sat down, apparently bored. "Hmm.. I know what we can do to pass the time! Let's play a game!" Botan moved closer to him. "A game?" Hiei raised a brow. "Yeah! How about..truth or dare?" No answer. "If you chose truth, you have to truthfully answer any question I ask, and if you pick dare you have to do anything I say. Then when it's your turn I have to chose truth or dare."

"Who said I was going to play in the first place?"

"Please? It's better than sitting around doing nothing!"

"Fine." It's not like she was going to stop anytime soon, and rather than listen to her whine some more Hiei figured they could just play the stupid game.

"Yay! Okay, I'll go first. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to..." Botan placed a finger on her chin as she thought. "I dare you to live with me for a week!" _I know I like him, but I don't know if he likes me. I need to find out if he feels the same way, and what better way than have him stay with me for a whole week! _

"Hell no." _Is the onna crazy or something? Me live with her for a whole week? She must have taken one too many falls lately. _

"Hiei you _have_ to do it! It's the rules of the game!" Botan pleaded. "I refuse to play by the rules of this foolish game." Hiei stated clearly annoyed at her persistence. "Can't the Wielder of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, put up with a Ferry Girl for one lousy week?" Silence. "I thought you-"

"-Why do you want me to stay with you for a week? Do you want to make my life a living hell?" Hiei's eyes were fixed upon Botan awaiting an answer. "I just want us to spend more time together! Is that so bad?"

"Do I even _have _to answer that?"

Botan pressed on. "You didn't have to pick dare, but you did! And here I thought you never backed down from a challenge." This type of thing always worked with Yusuke or Kuwabara. Maybe, just maybe it'd work on Hiei too. His ego was close to, or even as big as, theirs.

Hiei growled. "Fine." Hiei still didn't understand why she wanted him to stay at her place, but she could've always chosen a worse dare. Like being nice to the oaf, for instance. Hiei would have to ask Kurama about the intricacies of ningen women later. Plus, he already thought of a dare as payback.

"I guess it's my turn now, I pick truth!" Botan exclaimed. "What's the matter, is Koenma's _top _ferry girl afraid of what I might make her do?" Hiei's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I suppose I should choose dare, too. Okay fine I pick dare." Botan looked uncertainly towards Hiei. "You have to tell Yusuke and Kuwabara who this mystery man of yours is."

"W-what! I can't do that!" Shock was etched throughout Botan's features, as her eyes widened. "I thought it was the rules of the game?" Hiei mocked. "It's your own damn fault. You're the one who wanted to play this anyway."

"That's not fair Hiei!"

"Neither is making me spend a whole week with you. Call it off, and you won't have to tell the bakas who you like."

Botan frowned while looking down at the hardwood floor. She really wanted to spend time with Hiei, but how could she do that without revealing her secret. Plus, Kuwabara and Yusuke weren't good at keeping secrets. They'd probably never let her live it down if they found out. "Fine..." Botan didn't have to look up, she knew Hiei was smirking.

"I'll go along with your dare-"

Surprise flickered through Hiei's crimson orbs. _Shit. What is it with her? I was trying to avoid her, not move in for a week! Damn onnas everywhere, and their persistence. _

"-and you have to go along with my dare." Botan held out her hand waiting for Hiei to shake upon it.

Rolling his eyes Hiei extending his arm and shook hands with Botan. As they shook hands they lingered for a moment, hand in hand. Then the door slid open and, almost reluctantly, they let go.

"Oh, hello guys! I didn't expect to see you two here." Yukina smiled as she walked inside with some bags. Hiei nodded in acknowledgment as Botan got up to greet Yukina. "We haven't seen you or Genkai in a while, so here we are!"

"Hey Botan, Hiei." Genkai said as she walked through the door. "Looks like you guys had a long day..." Botan looked at the amount of groceries they had on the floor. "I could say the same for you." Genkai retorted based on Botan's appearance.

"Oh this? I..well you see I tripped on my way here. I guess that's what I get for spacing out, huh?" Botan smiled sheepishly. "Come with me, I'm sure there's something that can fit you." Yukina led the way to her room after telling Hiei they'd be right back.

_Damn that stupid onna. Maybe I could just break off the bet, but that would go against my code. _Hiei sighed. Botan was making him go soft. He swore he'd never become like Kurama, Kuwabara, or Yusuke, tied down by anyone, or held back because of their wishes. He didn't want to become weak, and let the emotions get the best of him. Yet, every passing second with her, he felt his resolve slowly breaking.

Heyy Heyy! Sorry if I took long. Finals and such are coming up, so I've gotta study! Thanks so much for all your feedback and reviews! I'm so glad everybody likes the story so far. I hope I'm keeping everyone in character... Hehe. Tell me whatchya though, and review! )


	4. Confessions of a Blabbermouth

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Telepathy

((My Notes))

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 4: Confessions of a Blabbermouth

Hiei watched as Botan hesitantly picked up the phone to call Yusuke. He had to live with her for a week and she had to tell Yusuke and Kuwabara who this "Mystery Man," was. If she hadn't been so persistent on playing that foolish game she wouldn't be in this mess.

She dialed two numbers then, losing her nerve, Botan hung up the phone. "Hiei, this isn't fair! You know those two can't hold a secret if their very life depended on it." Botan frowned. She could almost hear the duo's obnoxious laughter taunt her now.

"You should know by now that life isn't fair, onna. You think I'm thrilled to be living with you for a week?" Hiei picked up the phone and all but shoved it in her hands. "Now call." He'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying torturing the poor girl. It really is her fault, though. If she had minded her own business and left him alone, then none of this would have happened.

Botan gulped. "Hello, Yusuke? Yeah it's me Botan. I want you and Kuwabara to meet me at the park in ten minutes. Don't bring anyone else along." She paused. "No, this isn't a mission." Her eyes widened a bit as she yelled. "This is not a date you pervert! Just meet me there!" Botan hung up the phone and sighed.

Hiei almost had to fight the urge to laugh. The onna and the Spirit Detective on a date? For some reason the idea disgusted him. It's not like they would ever go on a date anyway, so it shouldn't have bothered him this much. Hiei watched as Botan quickly shoved her shoes in her feet and began to walk out the door.

She stopped short. "Oh! There's sweet snow in the freezer, and your room is the one closest to the bathroom on the left. See you in a little bit!" Botan walked out the door, leaving Hiei alone in her apartment.

He walked into his temporary room, and regretted it. The walls were yellow. A dull yellow would be fine, but it was brighter than the sun! Okay maybe it wasn't as bright as the sun, but leave it to Botan to paint a room this color. It nearly hurt his eyes. At least there was sweet snow.

------_-_

Botan walked up to the bench where Yusuke and Kuwabara were seated. "So what's the deal? Calling us over here so sudden and all," Yusuke said impatiently. "Yeah! I was just about to kick some Urameshi ass too!" Kuwabara stood up.

The ferry girl bit her lip. "Well... I've decided to tell you two who I like."

Caught off guard by her sudden confession, the two looked at each other. Kuwabara shrugged, he didn't understand woman one bit. One minute they were completely guarded and the next they were spilling their guts out. It was normal, or so he figured.

Unfortunately for Botan though, Yusuke wasn't fooled so easily. "Why the sudden change of heart?" He eyed the girl suspiciously. Botan never told her secrets unless it was by accident, unless she unintentionally spilled them. That's the main reason why everyone labeled her as the one and only blabbermouth of the group.

Botan feigned hurt. "What? You guys are my closest friends, so shouldn't you know first?"

"Please we'd be the last people on earth- or the other two worlds for that matter- you'd tell." Yusuke retorted cockily.

She had to hand it to him; he did have his perceptive moments. She figured those few times were only when he was fighting, though. Botan stomped her foot on the ground, impatiently. "Do you want to know or not?"

"Tell us Botan! Just ignore Urameshi, he doesn't know what he's talking about." Kuwabara decided to intervene, if this went on all day he'd never find out who Botan liked.

"Promise me you won't tell a soul."

They nodded their heads eagerly.

"Living or dead?"

They nodded again.

"And you have to promise you won't laugh at me when I tell you who it is."

Kuwabara was getting impatient. "Oh come on Botan, you know us better than that! Now just tell us!" Yusuke rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah I mean it's not like the guy you're crushing on is Hiei or anything. Now that would be something to laugh at." Kuwabara began to laugh. "Shorty's all evil, and you're, like, one of the nicest people I know!"

Botan laughed nervously. "Well, you see…" She stood there a tint of pink evident on her cheeks. The girl was fiddling with her fingers, stammering a bunch of gibberish.

"Don't tell me Hiei is _the_ infamous Mystery Man!" Yusuke looked at Botan, stifling his laughter. Her disposition gave it all away. "Does shorty know?" Kuwabara asked curiously, trying to hold back his laughter as well. "Of course not, and it's going to stay that way...right?" Botan couldn't have anyone find out about her small crush.

"Sure it'll stay that way, me and Kuwabara are only the best when it comes to keeping secrets, aren't we Kuwabara?" Yusuke grinned. "That's right! No one will find out about you and Hiei's secret affair! Cross my heart hope to die." Kuwabara added.

"We're not having any kind of affair!" Botan could feel the heat rising on her cheeks. "Anyway, I should be going now. You guys just better keep your promise. I don't know what I'd do if anyone else knew about it."

------_-_

At Kurama's House...

"So what brings you two here?" Kurama questioned as he took a seat. His voice was a bit interrogative, because it looked like the two were up to no good. He raised a brow, waiting for their answers.

Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged glances. "WE CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE KURAMA! HIEI IS BOTAN'S MYSTERY MAN!" Yusuke shouted while shaking Kurama by his shirt collar.

"I'd appreciate it if you weren't so loud; my mother's not feeling well." Kurama released Yusuke's grip on his shirt and continued, "And before you start jumping to conclusions it would be wise to get all the facts first."

"She told us! Outta the blue and everything! We promised we wouldn't tell anyone, but you're so good at forcing answers out of people, Kurama!" Kuwabara's voice was just as flabbergasted as Yusuke's was.

"What? I never forced anything out of you two." Kurama hadn't said anything near the topic of Hiei and Botan, let alone force them to reveal Botan's secret.

Kuwabara went on. "Yes you did! That thing you did with your face!"

Kurama raised a brow yet again, "What are you talking about?"

"That fox-ish thing you just did with your eyebrow! It practically screams give-me-some-damn-answers-now!"

Before Kurama could answer, Yukina walked through the door carrying snacks. "Hello everybody," She walked towards them. "Yukina! Hey! What brings you here my ice princess?" Kuwabara grabbed her hands in hers. "Well, I came to Kurama to ask him something about someone. Then I heard you two shouting about Botan liking Hiei... Is that true?"

"Shit. Another person knows. Botan's gonna kill us!" Yusuke could almost feel her "Oar of Death", now. "Don't worry Urameshi; Yukina knows how to keep a secret, right?" Kuwabara looked down at her. "Of course." She beamed. "I hope she knows how to keep a secret better than us..." Yusuke trailed off.

Hoping to start up conversation with the Koorime, Kuwabara hesitantly asked, "So, uh, Yukina, what'd you come here to ask Kurama?"

"I guess I can say now, since the both of you know about Botan. I came to ask Kurama a bit about Hiei. I had a feeling when they visited me yesterday that _something_ was going on between those two. It wasn't anything big, they just seemed to have gotten closer. I wanted to know if Hiei could possibly, ever, learn to have feelings for someone. I just wanted to know that Botan wouldn't get hurt." Yukina looked down embarrassed. "But I guess that was foolish of me, Kurama can't predict the future or anything."

"Don't be ashamed, Yukina! I bet even that three-eyed shorty's got some feeling in him." Kuwabara tried to console Yukina, hoping that was enough.

Kurama decided to support Kuwabara's half-hearted comment. "Kuwabara is right." Kurama's voice was sincere and comforting. "Hiei might not seem like the kind of guy you'd want to be around with all the time, but after getting to know him, he turns out to be the kind of person you _always_ want around. Despite his rude remarks and crude humor, Hiei is very loyal and that honor code of his has got to make up for something."

Yusuke rubbed the back of his head. "Plus, Botan is one of the friendliest people I know. She should be able to get a guy like Hiei to open up, and stuff." He wasn't really one for pep-talks, but he figured he could try at least. After all she was Hiei's sister, and he didn't want her thinking Hiei was emotionally-retarded or anything.

"So, you're all saying, Botan has a chance?" Yukina asked hopefully. She didn't want her friend to get hurt, and it would be nice seeing Hiei happy with someone. He always seemed to be in solitude.

"Yeah! The minute things don't seem to be working out right for them, is when Kuwabara and I'll step in." Yusuke grinned at Kuwabara mischievously. Kuwabara put his thumbs up, "Yeah, we'll make it happen! All for you Yukina!"

Kurama winced. "Maybe you two shouldn't try to interfere. You might end up doing more harm. Just let them find their way to each other." He knew whenever those two came up with a plan it always ended in disaster. That definitely wouldn't help Hiei and Botan.

"Relax, Kurama! We know what we're doing. Don't we Kuwabara?" Yusuke turned to Kuwabara and he nodded. "See? Just sit back, and watch as we get those two _lovebirds_ together!"

------_-_

Whatever Kuwabara and Yusuke say- expect the opposite. That's just how it is with them. Botan had the nagging feeling that they had already spilled her secret all the way through her walk home. _And they call me the blabbermouth. They better not have told anyone, or I'll- uh, I don't know what I'll do yet. They just better not go around telling everyone._

She walked into her apartment to find empty cartons of ice cream strewn about her kitchen. "The very least he could do is clean his mess...," Botan mumbled as Hiei continued to devour the ice cream. "Hiei, you might wanna slow down. Don't you ever get brain freeze?"

"No. Only weaklings do." He continued eating. "Well in any case you shouldn't eat so much ice cream; it's not good for you." Botan scolded. He seemed so much like a stubborn child right now. It was kind of cute.

Hiei looked up from his ice cream to glance at her. "Try worrying about yourself onna, those buffoons could be revealing your secret any minute now."

Botan cringed. "Yeah, well… I kind of expected that. It's probably why you made me tell them, isn't it?"

"Obviously," was Hiei's one-word reply. "So...you like your room?" Botan had to stifle a laugh. "It's repulsive. Why anyone would want to paint a room that color is beyond me, but then again this is you we're talking about." He told her.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Hey! What do you mean by that? I happen to think it's a nice color."

"You happen to think a lot of things are nice. That's what makes you so different from everyone."

"Different is better, I always say!" Botan grinned. At least he noticed something about her …even if he may be trying to insult her. She had no idea where he was going with this, really.

"In your case what makes you different probably could get you into trouble. Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt all the time is foolish. You should learn to be more cautious of things. Not everything is what it seems, you of all people should know that."

Botan smiled sheepishly. "I know, but I can't help it. I guess that's why I've got the Reikai Tantei to help me out, right?" _He better say yes._

He paused for a moment. "We won't be around forever."

She blushed. _He said we! Meaning him too! Does this mean he'll help me out if I'm in danger? Or maybe I'm looking way too into this. Oh well. He said we!_ "You don't have to be so pessimistic about it."

"Not pessimism, onna. It's called rationality." Hiei shot back.

"Whatever you say Hiei." _He said we!_

Hiei raised a brow at Botan. Why the hell was she so smiley all of a sudden? _Must be one of her ferry girl mood swings or something._ At any rate, Hiei couldn't wait for this week to be over, because then, he'd be free of _her_. The very person he was trying to avoid. Just his luck. It seemed every time he tried to get away, she'd be there. She was probably stalking him or something, or at least that's what he figured. Either that or she was trying to make his life a living hell. _Women are just too confusing, especially if the one you're dealing with is a crazed ferry onna..._

PaGe BreaK

Yay I'm back! I got a new computer, but I had to write everything over again… Then I felt like doing something new so I started a new H/B fic… Finally, I felt like continuing my old stuff so here I am! Long explanation, I know. Haha! Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers, you guys are awe-inspiring, wonderful, dazzling, sensational, stunning, magnificent people! I just typed everything in the thesaurus, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right? I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, please leave a review! They get me motivated. Also if you've got suggestions feel free to tell me, maybe I can incorporate it into the fic somehow.


	5. Unexpected Guest

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Telepathy

((My Notes))

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… except Haru! –huggles-

Chapter 5: Unexpected Guests

…She had fallen asleep, on his bed. Granted it was technically hers, but he had been sleeping there for the past two nights. It was just kind of awkward to wake up next to somebody else. Feeling their heart beating so close to you… the faint sounds of breathing… the intoxicating rise and fall of their chest… So close yet so far. She was so tangible yet so untouchable at the same time.

Silently cursing himself, Hiei rose up out of the bed and got himself prepared for the day. Damn it all. It seemed he got the worse end of the deal. Every moment he spent with her, he could feel himself becoming more and more drawn to her. It wasn't fair! He never asked for these worthless feelings. Leave the pathetic human emotions for Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. Hiei didn't know how to handle them. What was he supposed to do?

Denying them did nothing. Ignoring them blew up in his damn face. He couldn't fight it, not when she was so close to him every second of the day. It was physically and mentally impossible. Hell he didn't even know what to call these emotions.

The worst part of all was the fact that Hiei was actually beginning to like them. Him! Hiei and emotions didn't mix -maybe emotions like hate, disdain, and malice- but Hiei and _these_ sentiments certainly didn't meld well. Reminding himself he had to talk to Kurama to sort things out, Hiei re-entered the room to wake Botan. He was hungry… even though her cooking wasn't that good it was better than nothing.

"Onna," Hiei tapped her shoulder. He heard her grumble, but her eyes didn't open. He prodded her shoulder again, this time getting his hand slapped back by the drowsy girl. Hiei was becoming irritated. Wasn't she supposed to be a 'rise with the sun' kind of person? This was a side of Botan he doubted anyone, other than Koenma of course, had seen. "Onna." He shook her a bit rougher this time.

Botan turned to the side and let out a muffled, "…Hiei go back to bed it's too early to be awake."

"You happen to be sleeping in my bed."

Her eyes opened immediately and she sat upright. The room walls were yellow; her room was lilac… _Shoot! He's right!_ She squinted. The walls really were too bright. Botan figured Hiei was just trying to annoy her for the past two days. He kept on constantly bothering the girl about her choice in color. Apparently he was right; this color really _does_ hurt your eyes.

She looked up to see Hiei's eyes piercing her own. He was wearing a cocky smirk in response to her sudden interest in waking up. Dare he say it, she almost looked… cute. He grimaced at the thought that the word cute ever popped into his mind. Her hair, which used to be in a ponytail, was now a jumbled mess of blue being held together by a band. Her eyes were opened wide, and a blush found its way onto her cheeks.

The flabbergasted girl looked around confused. _I must have fallen asleep here after the movie! _

Yes, there was a television in each of the bedrooms, courtesy of Koenma. The last time he gave her an apartment it was utterly disgusting. Peeling wallpaper, toilets that didn't flush, sinks that sprayed out murky water accompanied by a putrid smell were some of the various features to her old apartment. After 'complaining', or nearly biting his head off as he liked to call it, Koenma quickly got her a new one much more luxurious.

_Did he sleep in here too? _Looking up at himBotan doubted it. He probably slept on the couch not wanting to get ferry-girl-germs, or something ridiculous like that. She pouted. He could be really cruel sometimes. "Sorry… about falling asleep in here."

Good thing she didn't ask if he had fallen asleep there too, she'd probably think he was some kind of pervert. He had fallen asleep next to her, but didn't make any attempt to move in the middle of night when he realized she was still in his bed. He didn't want her there… but it was just too bothersome to move her. Hiei shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, turning his back to her. "It's your apartment."

She nodded her head then went inside the bathroom to get ready. After she was finished she changed her clothes then walked past Hiei, who was sitting on the couch. Glancing around the room her eyes caught hold of the clock. It read six-o'-clock. "Hiei…" Botan whined, stretching out his name in frustration.

He looked up at her, still flopped down on the couch without a care. "What?" He replied in an irritated tone, his ruby eyes narrowing. He hated when she dragged his name out like that.

"Why did you wake me up at such an unnatural hour in the morning?" Botan was now talking through gritted teeth. Her eyes bore the same look as Hiei's, utter frustration.

"I'm hungry." He said it as though she were expected to jump at his every beck and call. He could care less if she was tired or not, Botan was the one who decided to make _him_ live in _her _house for a week. Losing his anger, Hiei relaxed his shoulders and continued watching television.

She decided to calm down, resolving not to blow off the handle. Forcing a smile on her face Botan spoke. "If you're hungry then why don't you cook something for yourself?"

"This is your house, and I am a 'guest' in this house, correct?"

Botan nodded slowly. "And your point is?"

"Isn't it a ningen custom for the guest to _normally_ be served?"

Botan gave him a questioning look, surprised he knew about something like that. "How do you know about things like that?"

"Kurama's house," Hiei responded curtly, closing his eyes. He remembered the first time he came to Kurama's house. His mother made sure that Kurama attended to Hiei's every need. He thought the woman was mad, but milked it for all it was worth. He even asked for ice cream and Kurama had to go to the grocery to get some. Kurama put on a smile for his mother and complied, but Hiei could sense the frustration from the kistune.

"Since when do you follow human traditions?"

"Since today," Hiei retorted arrogantly; watching as the ferry girl pouted. Her amethyst eyes narrowed skeptically. "You're having fun making my life miserable, aren't you?" He could be so selfish sometimes. She often wondered how he could be related to someone as selfless as Yukina.

Hiei brushed her comment off, realizing that Botan fully well knew the answer. "Would you just go and make the damn breakfast?"

She rolled her eyes. It's not like she could fall back asleep anyway, and they might as well get an early start on the day. "Yes your highness." With a mock bow, she walked away; stomping for added effect. _Only five days left, and he'd be out of here… Wait-no! That's not a good thing! Stupid, stupid mind!_ She mentally berated herself.

Preparing the breakfast, Botan began to think about what she could plan for the day. She doubted Hiei wanted to go visit the others, and they had just visited Yukina. In other words, today was going to involve the two of them, alone.

Yesterday Yusuke and Kuwabara came over unexpectedly, saying they wanted to spend some quality time with their 'favorite ferry girl'. The day before that Kurama graced them with his presence, warning them about Yusuke and Kuwabara's 'new mission'. He didn't fully explain the details, but he told Hiei and Botan they might as well just steer clear from the dynamic duo; stating something about them bringing nothing but trouble. Hiei could care less, but Botan wanted to know more.

Before she could begin to ask Kurama, the boy took off, mentioning something about his mother calling him. …Which is a plausible thing for Kurama since he's so attached to his mother, plus with his kitsune hearing he could probably hear her from halfway across the world.

She had the nagging feeling that something was going on, but in time that feeling wore off. It's not like the world was going to end or anything.

**BOOM**

–Maybe she spoke too soon? Startled she knocked down the egg batter she was holding, and silently cursed herself. She'd have to clean that up later.

"DAMMIT!" A strained voice yelled.

"Hiei! What's going on?" She yelled from inside the kitchen hesitantly.

"It's nothing." Hiei didn't want her to worry, but the aggravation in his voice didn't do a good job of hiding it. Hearing his frustration she quickly made her way into the living room. Botan was greeted with an unexpected sight. A demon had crashed into her table, effectively reducing it to nothing but splinters. "Wh-who's that?" She pointed with a hesitant finger, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"Heh, I guess I better work on my landings." The unidentified demon began dusting himself off as he stood up. "Haru's the name!" The demon had tawny-colored short hair, coupled with bangs that brushed against his eyelids. His eyes were a greenish-blue, and it was often hard to determine what color it was exactly. He was tanned, with a healthy glow, and was well-built. If she had to choose word to describe him, it'd be exotic.

Botan began to blush as in an instant he was at her side, kissing her hand. She swallowed slowly, suddenly unable to speak properly, "H-hello there…"

"And what's your name?" He asked her, loosing the clumsiness his voice originally held. "It's…" She trailed off. _Get it together girl!_ "Uh…Botan? Yes! Botan! I'm Botan!" She let out finally, as she began to laugh nervously; rubbing the back of her head. It was funny how a handsome man could come strolling-or rather crashing- into her house and she became a bumbling idiot.

Hiei growled. "Why the hell did you even come here, Haru?" He couldn't stand to see Botan make a bigger fool out of herself. For some reason his dislike for Haru just rose, big time. Who does Haru think he is barging in here for no apparent reason… and- and… what's with the hand-kissing?

"I just came to check on my favorite fire demon! I heard you were shacking up with some ferry girl from Reikai, so I came here to check it out. I don't believe you didn't even have the guts to tell me first!" Haru feigned hurt, shaking his head indignantly.

"Tell you _what_ first?" Hiei averted his eyes to the boy before him.

Upon seeing Hiei's glare, he smirked. "You don't have to play dumb, Hiei. I know all about your furtive affair with Botan. I can't blame you though, she is quite a catch." He winked at the girl beside him.

Botan's eyes widened. "We are not shacking up!"

"Oh please. You're both living together and you're telling me _nothing_ is going on between the two of you?" Haru's striking eyes glistened with mockery.

The said two just stared at each other in disbelief. "Hiei, I'm ashamed of you. Mukuro will be heartbroken." He added, placing his hand over his heart.

_Ah, so he must work for Mukuro._ Botan's eyes ran over him once more. He didn't seem as uptight as all the others that served her. She actually liked his vibrancy. But what was with this talk about Mukuro being heartbroken? Was there actually a relationship between the two that had been kept hidden? Botan certainly hoped not, feeling a bit envious.

"Would you shut the hell up for one moment? The onna means nothing to me, and I don't give a shit about what Mukuro feels." Hiei glared at the man standing before him.

Botan's heart sank upon hearing Hiei's declaration. Her lips formed a small pout, but she quickly replaced it with a look of indifference.

Taking note of Botan's actions, Haru changed the subject. "Hiei you really are too cruel. And the others have been saying you'd get all soft hanging out with 'nothing but human scoundrels, and an air-headed ferry girl.' I of course believed you'd still be that haughty demon I met a few months ago, and so, here I am today!" He huffed proudly, resembling a child.

Hiei mentally sighed. "You came all the way over here just to figure out something you already knew the answer to?" Haru beamed, as Hiei continued. "Hn, you really are a baka."

The demon let out an uneasy smile. "Eh, well… that's not the only reason I came here." He walked over to Botan, becoming serious again. "I heard Botan was a stunning woman; even for a being from Reikai." The last word was coated with disgust.

Haru hated how those in Spirit World always looked down on everybody and everything, as if they were better. He had never once met someone from Reikai who didn't look upon demons as cut-throat barbarians. Not every demon was like that, especially not him.

Botan regained her composure. "Thank you, but I'm really not that special…" She could feel the blush trying to return.

Haru grabbed her hand, and clasped it within is own. "Oh, but you really are." He looked deep into her eyes, and put on a charming smile. His voice became richer, and more refined. This was his lady-killer move. _Get's 'em every time…_

"Haru, cut the damn theatrics!" Hiei growled watching the pair with disdain. Letting go of Botan's hand, the boy laughed nervously while resting his hands upon his mess of hair. "Okay, okay. I was just trying to have some fun!"

"Pft." Hiei turned his head to the side, and shoved his hands in his pockets. It was way too early to be dealing with a staged Haru. It didn't bug him when Haru played this game with other women, but with Botan it was different. She didn't even know how to react to all the attention, further fueling his antics. If he didn't stop Haru, Botan certainly wouldn't be able to do it; meaning Hiei would be stuck with the pestering demon the whole day. One over-emotional woman was far too much for Hiei to deal with and if Haru stayed, Hiei wouldn't be able to handle the two effervescent idiots. It's not like he was jealous or anything. He could care less if the two started a relationship. It wouldn't bother him one bit, nope not one, tiny, miniscule, _itty bitty_ bit.

"Hey, Haru, would you like anything to eat? I mean since you came from so far away and all?" Botan asked.

He grinned and nodded. "That would be great. Thanks, Botan!" She returned the smile and walked into the kitchen. Hiei couldn't believe how easily she had cooperated with Haru. It took him twenty-one questions just to get her to make him something, but she practically begged Haru to allow her to make breakfast. _Baka onna._ Turning back to face Haru, he eyed him charily. "Why did you really come here? You can't expect me to believe it's because you wanted to see how I was doing."

"Okay, you caught me!" Haru stopped smiling after that statement, his face became unsentimental. It was really freaky how he became serious all of a sudden when it was needed, but Hiei had already gotten used to his quirky mannerisms. "Mukuro's not really brokenhearted or anything, more like…" He paused, searching for the right words. "…doubtful. She doesn't want you becoming weak because of Botan, and your growing human emotions. I told her think nothing of it, and nothing could change you, but she's not convinced. Hell, she says she doesn't need any lovesick puppies in her army. She wants a 'warrior, and not a love weary, sentimental, baby'. As you friend… I figured I'd warn-"

"Shut up. I'm not in love with that ferry onna; I could care less about what happens to her. You can assure Mukuro that nothing will come out of my staying here with her. And furthermore, tell her not to stick her nose in affairs that don't involve her." Hiei's eyes were set upon Haru's, and the carefree demon could've sworn he saw a flame flicker in the Koorime's eyes.

Haru shrugged his shoulders. "I sure will Hiei." He stared off into the direction of the kitchen. "Okay, I'm gonna go check on your girlfriend now." With that he walked off, affirming what Hiei had begun to suspect. Haru hadn't been listening to a damn word Hiei had just said. Flopping down on the couch, Hiei turned the television on, hoping to find something more entertaining than Haru's stupidity.

-----

"Hey Botan, need any help?" Haru walked into the kitchen, hands behind his head.

She shook her head. "No thanks. I've got everything covered here." Her back was turned to him, as she began cooking on the stove. "I'll just wait here for the food to be done… Hiei's acting like someone shoved his katana up his ass." Taking a seat Haru began to wait for the food to be done.

She laughed upon hearing his response to Hiei's attitude. He was right; Hiei could act rather uncouth at times. He was such a haze of mystery, but so was everyone in their own way. Haru for example… underneath his blithe demeanor she knew one thing that could tick him off.

Biting back the urge to ask him about it, she continued cooking. After fifteen agonizing minutes she could no longer take it. It felt like she was going to burst if she didn't ask him right here and right now. Botan bit her lip, finally gaining to courage to ask him about it. "Haru, about what you said before… something about being beautiful for a being from Reikai… what did you mean by it?"

Haru was taken back by the question at first, but decided to answer anyway. "I'm sorry if it offended you. It's just that the people from Reikai and I haven't always been on good terms." His voice became harsher, and it lost the carefree nature it formerly held. "They're all so damn condescending and judgmental… I can't stand how they try to critique us, when they don't have a clue about the world we live in. Their outlook on us demons just pisses me off!" He slammed his fist down on the table.

Her shoulders shook at the sound of Haru's outburst. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I remember how cold-hearted those in Reikai could be. I wish it were different, really I do." She sympathized with him, fully well knowing how patronizing they could be. "But you know… there really are a lot of us who do care about what happens to the good souls in Makai. I mean we make it our priority to make sure all three worlds retain their order. At least the people I work with do. Most of the ferry girls, the ogres, and Koenma all feel the same way."

"Koenma?" He asked curiously. "He actually gives a damn about what happens to us?"

Botan smiled. "Of course he does. His advice isn't always played upon by those in Makai, but he is trying. You should see him sometimes, in that maze of paperwork. I'm surprised he can find his way out sometimes!" She laughed, lightening the mood a bit.

Her words seemed to have a calming effect on him, as his voice became soother. "I see that now, and it's good to know we've got somebody looking out for us in Reikai." He relaxed his shoulders, and unclenched his fists.

"Thanks."

He nodded. "Well enough about Makai and Reikai! How's you and Hiei's relationship shaping out?" Haru nudged her. "N-nothing's going on between us!" She faced her back to him, so he couldn't see her blush. Putting the final preparations on breakfast she continued. "Hiei and I are just friends, comrades, you know!"

"If so, then why does your heart skip a beat every time I mention his name?" He smirked as she stiffened. "I-uh-what? My heart does not do that! You must be hearing things, Haru!" Botan put a hand over her heart as a reflex.

"Nope, my demonic skills are unheard of! I can sense it, every time your pulse quickens or heart beats faster. Plus I can read anyone's emotions anytime. You _love_ Hiei." His eyes seemed to pierce into her very soul, reading every single feeling, thought, and wish.

She gulped. "L-love?"

Haru decided to end his little game, figuring he pestered her enough. "Don't get so riled up it's only a joke! I-uh… I can't really read emotions or anything like that." He lied.

Botan sighed. "You really had me going there!" He might as well be an actor, with those eyes. They really did look as though they were penetrating deep into her core, analyzing her feelings. Snapping out of her thoughts, she set the food down on the table. "Hiei breakfast is ready!" She called.

Entering the kitchen he sat down at the table looking down at the food, suspiciously. "What the hell is this stuff?" Botan sighed. "Hiei, it's food. Now eat!" She shoved the plate in front of him stubbornly.

"You probably poisoned it or something." He glared. Hiei was still fuming because of Haru's advances towards Botan.

"Nuh-uh," Haru said through a mouthful of food. "This stuff is good! I'm pretty sure she didn't poison it cause then I'd be dead!"

"-And the whole world will be better off…" Hiei answered contemptuously as he eyed his food suspiciously. Ningen food really was peculiar. He had no idea how Kurama dealt with this.

He continued to eat, not paying any attention to the Koorime's harsh words. "You hurt me Hiei."

Botan let out a frustrated sigh. "Just eat it Hiei! Weren't you the one who said I should cook something?" Hiei remained silent; he seemed to be ignoring her. "Fine, I'll just help you then." Picking up his fork she shoved some food into his mouth, as Haru began to laugh raucously at the demon. Stomping off into the living room, she began muttering to herself about demons and their tenacity.

Abruptly getting up, Hiei walked over to the sink and spit out the atrocious food in his mouth. Glaring at the spot where Botan just stood he began to walk in the direction she had left. "That damn bitc-"

Before Hiei could reach the doorway, Haru stood in the threshold, blocking Hiei's path to Botan. "-Ah ah ah! I don't think it'd be wise to follow her. You know, women and their mood swings. Must be that time of the month…" He trailed off.

"Move." Hiei's voice was dangerously low.

"Come on! Do you think I really came here to check on you and Botan? I've got covert info on Mukuro! Something that I bet no one else except for a select few know!" He smiled tauntingly.

"I said, move!" Hiei repeated, intent on catching up to the ferry girl.

"Mukuro's a 36-B!" He yelled hurriedly, trying to make Hiei forget about Botan. "Yeah some of the others went digging into her personal items and found out, hilarious isn't it? Ha-ha!"

Hiei growled. "I don't care damn it, now get out of my way!"

Haru stopped smiling, his voice becoming somber. "Do you smell that?"

…Salty

"She's crying. And it's because of you. Now I don't know what's causing her to act this way but I've got a pretty good feeling. She's confused, upset, distressed, troubled, and a whole bunch more. Just let her be." Sensing Hiei's composed manner, Haru went back to the table and took a seat. Hiei followed suit, ending his pursuit of the ferry girl.

Hiding his anger, Hiei sat down. Why the hell did she have to be so sensitive? Her tears, they just pissed him off even more. Why did she have to cry? She didn't deserve to feel one ounce of pain. Not after all the good things she had done in her afterlife. To think that he caused her pain, made him hurt inside. It was a sort of gut wrenching, excruciating feeling. Much more painful than anything he'd ever felt in combat.

Haru smirked to himself after glancing at Hiei. He was feeling pure guilt. Probably the first time he had ever felt like that before.

-----

Botan wiped her tears, frustrated with herself. Why was she crying anyway? Oh yeah, because Hiei was such an arrogant bastard, and really could care less about her feelings. She remembered when he blatantly told Haru that Botan meant nothing to him. He probably didn't realize it, but it really did hurt her. Then he had to go and be such a jerk, instead of eating his breakfast and being grateful, like a normal person.

Letting out a frustrated groan, she got up from her bed and into the bathroom. She washed her face, and then dried it, looking into the mirror. Her eyes were red. Deciding to wait until she looked more presentable she began to think.

It was really stupid of her to run out like that. He could be dense sometimes, so maybe he didn't know what he was doing to her. Plus this was Hiei. He had said way worse to others, and she should be used to it now.

If only she could get through his barriers… maybe then she could understand him more. He wouldn't be such an obscurity, and everything he did wouldn't have to be justified by basing it on what others thought him to be. Taking a deep breathe she walked towards the kitchen, mentally preparing herself for facing the two demons.

She re-entered the room, seeming to have regained her poise. Crimson meet amethyst as their eyes locked for a brief moment. Hiei broke their gaze and stubbornly shoved the food into his mouth. Botan's eyes lit up and she sat down at the table to eat. Forcing back a laugh Haru started up conversation. He really couldn't believe that Hiei had backed down to a woman. This was certainly a breakthrough for someone like Hiei. Incredible how much he could change in a week. -Only when he was around Botan, of course.

After eating Haru decided it was time he left. After all, he had work that needed to be done. "Thanks for the breakfast Botan, it was great! I'm gonna have to stop by more often!" He laughed.

"Please do! It gets boring being in this apartment all alone sometimes."

"Ok, I will then. Catch you later Hiei."

Hiei nodded. "I'll be sure to tell Mukuro about your recent expeditions later." Hiei taunted, as he watched the boy stiffen. "You wouldn't dare! C'mon Hiei you know I'd never tell anybody if you did! I guess I'll just have to remember not to tell you anything anymore…"

Hiei shrugged it off.

"Goodbye, Botan." Haru flicked his wrist and a portal was created. Looking back at the pair one more time he couldn't help the grin that made its way on to his face. It was like the kind of grin that a child makes when they know something you don't. _Botan, your heart really does skip a beat every time Hiei's mentioned. And he does feel something for you, no matter how much he tries to refuse it. Hopefully you'll get some sense into that baka's head._

Botan watched as he waved goodbye to them and stepped inside of the portal. It looked like he was trying to tell her something, but she wasn't sure what. Remember their earlier conversation, she turned to Hiei. "Say, can Haru really depict people's feelings? Is it some sort of demonic trait he's got?"

Hiei snorted. "Obviously… That's the only reason Mukuro keeps that idiot around." Botan gasped instinctively.

"What the hell's your problem?"

She started slowly, "Oh nothing! He just said a few things… I didn't believe he was telling the truth." She waved it off with her hand, sweat-dropping. _Shoot! Haru really wasn't kidding! If he can read my feelings like an open book will he tell Hiei? No. He wouldn't do something like that!_

Fully knowing that Botan was lying, Hiei shrugged it off. He didn't want to concern himself with her problems. "Forget it. I don't care anyway."

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. At least he wasn't interrogating her about it. She knew she wasn't a good liar, and Hiei would probably be able to figure out the truth if only he looked hard enough._ Or if he used his Jagan…_ That could be a potential problem. She wondered if Koenma knew any techniques to repel the Jagan.

Koenma…

…Work…

"Crap. I'm going to be late for work, again!" Rushing past Hiei, Botan ran into her room to get herself ready. Five minutes later she came out, looking a bit tousled, but nonetheless ready for work. Checking to see if she had turned everything off in the kitchen she grimaced at the hideous glob of dried egg batter on her white tile. "It's almost as ugly as the color in Hiei's room…" Botan muttered as she frowned.

Instantly, she started to smile as an idea came into her head. "Hiei!"

"What?"

"I need you to move all the furniture out of your room, please!" She tried to sound as desperate as she could, hoping it would coax the Koorime to carry out her wishes.

On instinct, Hiei wanted to respond with a brisk refusal, and maybe an insult or two… but this time he didn't. Maybe if she hadn't gotten so emotional and started crying because of him, he'd be able to refuse. He never liked it when women cried. Maybe it was because it reminded him of Yukina, and all the torment she had went through with Tarukane.

"Fine, but I'm not moving it back." His voice still had that caustic manner it always held, but Botan didn't believe he really meant it. "Okay, when I get back I'll have a present for you!" With that she left.

_Present? Hn. Baka onna… _Hiei didn't want any presents. All he wanted was freedom. Only five days left, and he'd be free to get as far away as possible from her.

Question is: would he want to leave when all of this was over?

-----

Okay I'm done. Heh, I love Haru.

Just click that little review button and make me happy… please? I updated wayyy faster than last time, that has to count for something… right? Haha! Later guys!


	6. Arguments and Close Encounters

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

**Telepathy**

((My Notes))

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Chapter 6: Arguments and Close Encounters

All the furniture was lined up against the walls surrounding his temporary room. If the word room was the right term to describe that infernal yellow hellhole. Even though it took Hiei all of ten seconds to accomplish the job, it was still a bother. Hiei never once in his life fulfilled such menial tasks, he was the wielder of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame for crying out loud! So why did he start now?

Oh yes, he remembered. The only reason he listened to her, was because it benefited him, mostly. The onna was planning to paint over his room. _Hn. If she was really wanted to surprise me, she should have removed all the furniture, painted the walls, and put everything back._

He smirked at the thought of Botan hauling the rest of the furniture into the room, because he'd be damned if he did another nice thing for the onna in his lifetime. These feelings... all they were good for were pissing him off. And when he needed to let off some steam there was only one logical thing to do. Grabbing his katana from Botan's coffee table, Hiei made his way out of the apartment to train, of course.

* * *

Kurama was exhausted. School was becoming one big headache with the increasingly popular fan-club, consisting of love-sick teenage girls who all had their hearts set on Kurama. He embodied all the things a man should be, after all! Good looks, brains, civility, humility, and the list went on. "You name it, Kurama's got it!" Or that's what Kurama heard one of them chant while he was walking down the halls.

Why did these things happen to him? Was karma out to get him? Had he done something so bad in his past life that he was forced to live a life cursed with infatuated girls? Granted the boy was Youko many years ago, but he figured saving the world time and time again accounted for something!

All Kurama wanted to do was greet his mother, go up to his room, and spend the rest of the day in peace and solitude. One third of his plan was complete, that is, until he felt three distinct aura's emanating from his room.

Feeling a migraine coming on, Kurama pushed open his door, and gawked at the sight. There was an unidentified demon tied to the chair residing next to his desk. The small lamp was turned on, and focused in on the demon, much like a scene from one of those movies were the detectives were interrogating a prime suspect.

For some reason, this demon seemed familiar to him. In fact, he stuck out like a sore thumb with his tanned skin, tawny colored hair, and indeterminable eye color. Was it blue or green?

_The ladies love the eyes_... Kurama remembered a suave, yet cocky voice saying. But it couldn't be him! _Why would he, of all the demons I could think up a logical explanation to, be here... in the human world... and more importantly in my room?! _

"Haru?" Kurama asked tentatively as he set his books down on the table. The said demon looked up to see Kurama, standing in the threshold of the door, looking rather distressed. "Hey! Long time no see! Kurama, right?" He smiled helplessly at Kurama. Haru would've waved, but in his current condition... it would be futile.

Standing near the demon was Yusuke. The spirit detective's eyes glinted with mirth as he concentrated on the twitching demon before him. Kuwabara was standing on the other side of Haru, a pen and notepad in his hand. His expression was serious, and eyes focused on Haru.

"Now, tell us what we want to know, and you can go back to doing whatever it is you do at Mukuro's creepy castle," Yusuke ordered, his voice never once lacking the temerity that only he possessed.

Haru closed his eyes tight as he shook his head. "Never! I already told you. I know nothing!" He stuck his nose up in the air, haughtily.

"You know I didn't want to have to do this..." Yusuke trailed off as Kuwabara handed him a plate of food, "but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Haru, eyes still shut tight, smelled the familiar waft of food. Ningen food, to be more precise. Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted with a steaming hot plate of breakfast foods similar to the ones Botan had cooked him before. There was even a few things that he never seen on the plate. Haru felt his resolve slipping quickly. "Cheaters..." He mumbled under his breath.

"Aw, c'mon just tell us what we want to know. We're doing this for my sweet ice-maiden, Yukina! We overheard you in Botan's apartment, you can read emotions! So tell us what we want to know!" Kuwabara pleaded, pen and notepad still in hand.

Yusuke set the plate of food down on the desk. "As soon as you tell us if our favorite three-eyed-demon has feelings for Botan, the sooner you can have this."

_So this is what this whole fiasco is about... _Kurama stood at his door, wondering if he should help the poor demon or not.

"Fine!" Haru sighed. Maybe they could help Hiei with this problems, seeing as Hiei had no clue how to deal with them. Maybe if they knew... they could be of some sort of help. Plus, ningen food was too good to pass up!

"Hiei does have conflicting feelings about the ferry girl. But even so, he's determined not to let them show. He doesn't want to be dragged down with these new feelings, and as you all know Hiei is very good at putting up emotional barriers to shut out the ones he cares about."

While Kuwabara was furiously quoting Haru, Yusuke freed him from the confines of the rope. Looking closer at the ropes, Kurama realized they were some sort of binding ropes that restrained spiritual energy. That explains why Haru couldn't slip out of the ropes.

"Mission accomplished!" Yusuke laughed raucously, putting up a victory sign.

Kurama sighed. "Would you mind explaining why out of all places you chose _here_ to pester Haru?"

Kuwabara looked down at the floor. "Well, you know my sis, Kurama. She'd have a fit if I brought home any strange demons!"

Haru was too engrossed with stuffing his face that he hardly noticed the 'strange demons,' comment.

"Point taken. What about you Yusuke?" Kurama raised a brow.

Yusuke scratched his head. "Well, this was the first place that came to mind, and if anything I figured you'd be the best person to get answers out of Haru... seeing as you do that freaky eye-brow thing."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "I hope you two aren't planning on doing anything foolish. They should be able to find their way to each other on their own. I have a feeling things might not go well if you bury yourselves in matters that don't concern you."

"Honest, Kurama! We won't do anything bad! Right Urameshi?"

Yusuke who was too busy watching Haru scarf down his food, was suddenly nudged by Kuwabara. "Huh? What? Yeah! Of course we won't. Don't sweat it Kurama." Yusuke patted the red-head on the back, as he and Kuwabara made their way out of his room. Only one problem. They left him to deal with Haru.

* * *

Hiei returned home close to midnight. Botan still didn't come back from Reikai. After he showered, she still wasn't home. Even after he ate the left-overs from yesterday, she still hadn't returned. Sitting down on the couch, Hiei began flipping through the channels restlessly. He felt weighed down for some reason. _Where is that damn onna?_

A half and hour later, Botan finally strode through the door, carrying a can of paint and two rollers. "I'm home!" She proclaimed happily as she set her things down.

Hiei felt like that weight had been lifted off of him when he heard the familiar click of the lock being opened, and Botan's feet shuffling through the door. He was actually concerned over her well-being. And that pissed him off all the more.

"What the hell took you so long?" Hiei asked a bit irritated as he got up from the couch. She usually got home much earlier than this, and for some reason, he felt worried when she didn't arrive at the usual time. It _bothered_ him.

Botan, who was busy fumbling in her bag for her keys, stopped as soon as she heard Hiei's voice. He almost sounded distressed.

But that was impossible! For Hiei to be distressed, he actually had to care about her. He had to have some small ounce of feelings for her deep inside, and that definitely wasn't true. Botan shook her head, she must've been hearing things.

"Onna... have you become deaf, or were you always this hard of hearing?" Hiei stood there, his ruby eyes fixed on the girl who was shaking her head and rummaging through her bag.

There it was! She could hear it in his voice. That small drop of concern he tried to hide within an insult. Looking up from her bag into his face, her eyes widened. _Was Hiei actually worried... because of me? I... I don't believe it._

Hiei just stood there as Botan continued to stare at him wide-eyed. Why was she looking at him like that? It was unnerving. He felt that same, sickening feeling every time she glanced at him. And for some reason, it was hard to tear away from her gaze.

The duo stood there, staring at each other, for a moment longer until Hiei snapped. "Well?"

Botan began to blush as she realized how long she'd been openly staring at Hiei for. Shaking her head as an attempt to rid her of her thoughts, Botan began to speak. "Things have been a bit hectic in Reikai lately, so I had to stay a bit longer. Then I went and bought paint so we could get rid of that dreadful color in your room!"

She stared at him, smiling as if waiting for him to ask a question. "Well...?"

_What is she so excited over?_ Not being able to stand the silence anymore, Hiei sighed. "What is it?"

"Don't you want to know what color I chose?" Botan asked excitedly, as she picked up the can.

Hiei 'hn'ed. "Not really." He was a bit curious, but he knew Botan would give in and tell him eventually.

"You can be such a party-pooper sometimes, Hiei. Anyway, the color I chose was," She paused for dramatic effect, "mint-green!"

"Mint-green?" Hiei spat out. Couldn't she just go for normal colors. Green, he wouldn't care so much for, but mint-green... it just reminded him of Yukina.

"Well this is still my apartment Hiei, and I'm not going to go paint it black or something. Plus, the guy who helped me out at the store said that it was a very calm and soothing color! It has a relaxing effect, so maybe it might calm you down a bit!" She jested.

"And this has absolutely nothing to do with Yukina." Hiei

Botan fiddled with her thumbs. She always wanted Hiei to tell Yukina he was in fact her brother, and in some odd and twisted way this was her subconscious way of telling him: Tell the girl. "Of course not! This color is much lighter than Yukina's hair color. I mean hers is a much deeper shade, while this is a much paler color." She laughed nervously. "I really do like this shade! And it doesn't hurt your eyes like the yellow does!"

Hiei glared. "Bullshit. Why don't you just come right out and say it."

"Say what?" Botan echoed.

"You want me to tell her I'm her brother, is that it?" His voice was low and almost cynical.

Botan sighed, she knew this wouldn't end well, but she had to say it anyway. "I do! Is that so bad? You had the poor girl go to the Dark Tournament just for a chance to find her long lost brother, and now she's in the human world hoping for just a chance to meet him! Why can't you just tell her?"

Hiei gritted his teeth in frustration, trying to restrain himself. "It's not that simple, onna."

Botan stomped her foot on the ground. "Is it really that complicated? Because I can't see why you would allow her to go blindly searching like this! She doesn't care about your past, the only thing she cares about is _you_! If you're afraid of her hating you because of who you were it doesn't matter, because you're not the same person you were when we first met! If you really cared about Yukina you would-"

Hiei slammed his fist down on the table. "Damn it! Shut up! You don't know _anything_ about me or what I've done, so don't presume to understand my actions or thoughts behind them! You have no clue of who I am and what I've done in the past, so don't tell me I've changed. For all you know I haven't changed one bit!" His eyes held such a fury in them, Botan was almost afraid of what he'd do next.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Hiei cut her off. "Furthermore, what I do is my business and my business alone so stay out of it! I don't need you, or anyone else for that matter, telling me what's best for my own damn sister!" In a flash Hiei was gone, and the window was left open.

Crestfallen, Botan walked over to the window and stared up at the night sky. Instead of closing the window and locking it, she decided to leave it open. Maybe, just maybe, Hiei would come back and they could clear things up.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, wishing she could've told him that before he left. She had no clue the torment he felt about being Yukina's brother. If she did, she never would've brought it up. Sighing, Botan picked up the can of paint and walked into Hiei's room.

Botan had hoped Hiei would've been there so they could've painted the room together, but it was futile now. She had gone and ruined everything, as usual. It really didn't help to have such a big mouth sometimes. Wiping off a few tears that she didn't even realize had fallen, Botan began to paint over the room.

* * *

Hiei was speeding past buildings, not really caring in which direction he went. He just needed to get out and away from Botan. She was too bothersome. She shouldn't matter at all to him, and yet she evoked such strong feelings from him. She made his blood boil. She made his heart beat faster. She made him want to be everything he _wasn't_.

Trying to clear his head, Hiei continued to run. He reached the park and began racing past the trees. Running always seemed to clear his mind. He focused on the branches before him, as he leaped from tree to tree. Four more days. Just four more days, and he'd go back to being his normal self. All he had to do was wait it out.

* * *

Botan was nearly finished with Hiei's room, and it was a few hours past midnight. She was exhausted, but she didn't want to leave the room half done. "I'll just take a little break," Botan said to herself as she fixed a small snack and sat down on the couch.

Flipping through the channels, Botan yawned. There was never anything good on television anymore. She set her snack down on the table and positioned herself comfortably on the couch. "A little nap won't hurt..." Botan trailed off, feeling herself drift into slumber.

Just then, Hiei entered the apartment, through the window Botan left opened. His ears picked up a faint noise, and his head snapped in the direction of the television. A few feet away, Hiei saw Botan snuggled up to the couch, looking quite exhausted.

A pang of guilt washed over him as he saw the weary girl on the couch. He supposed he was a bit harsh towards her, but she deserved it, didn't she? _Of course she did. The onna should have just kept her nose out of things that don't concern her._

But one look at Botan's fragile body curled up on the couch erased all those thoughts. She really didn't deserve it. She was just trying to be friendly after all. Too bad she was trying to be friendly to one of the worst people possible. Hiei hated pity or anything of the sort, and Botan was the most sympathetic person in the world.

Sighing, Hiei entered his room, and was surprised to find it almost completed. The color wasn't _that_ similar to Yukina's. It was pale, just as Botan had explained. A new wave of guilt washed over him, and he fought the urge to burn down the whole house. Hiei never felt guilt! It was supposed to be one of those emotions that was locked away deep inside of him. So why the hell was it surfacing now? It just didn't make any sense!

But it did...

In the back of his mind, Hiei knew why this was happening. It was all because of Botan. Admitting it would make the situation worse, so he decided to keep it all inside. He was good at that sort of thing, after all.

**...The Next Morning...**

Something didn't feel right. Botan felt as if she were forgetting something very important. Dressed in her pink kimono and hair tied up in its usual ponytail, she checked her watch. It was around noon time... Saturday morning. Meaning, she was off today, and didn't need to get ready for anything! That must've been what was bugging her... but for some reason that anxious feeling in her chest hadn't dissipated.

And so, Botan was back to square one: feeling as if she were forgetting something important. Making her way back to her room to change out of her kimono, Botan stopped. She peered into Hiei's room to find it completely painted over, and all the furniture put back to its original place. Then it all clicked. Last night... Hiei's concern... their fight... and falling asleep, leaving half the room incomplete.

How could she forget such an eventful night! She was really absentminded sometimes. Botan walked into the room, mentally scolding herself for her forgetfulness. "I can't believe it. Did Hiei actually come back?" Botan asked, disbelieving.

"That's a foolish question. We had an agreement, didn't we?" Botan's head turned to the direction of the cocky voice. Hiei was residing in the threshold of the door, leaning against the frame, arms crossed.

"Hiei!" She ran up to him to give him a hug, but quickly restrained herself. She remembered Hiei wasn't too fond of hugs, and he probably wouldn't want one from her out of all people, after the fight they had last night. "Hiei, look. I'm really-"

"Don't bother," He cut her off mid-sentence. "I don't want an apology from you."

Botan took this as an insult, casting her gaze to the floor.

"You did nothing worth apologizing for." His voice pierced through the silence like a knife.

She looked up at Hiei and smiled. If he was over their fight, then so was she. There was no need to linger on the subject. She was about to say something else, but he cut her off, once more.

"Listen well, because I'm only going to say this once, onna."

She nodded.

"Yukina... she'll be better off not knowing who I am. Searching for a phantom brother is a better alternative to learning he is a mass-murderer, and a thief, at that. I would rather she go on living without the burden of my crimes haunting her. It is for the best." Hiei stated sternly, glancing up at Botan. Pressing on, Hiei continued. "You said before, that I'm hurting her by not telling her who I am... but just think how much it would kill her to know that her precious brother is nothing more than-"

"-For what it's worth Hiei..." Botan cut in, not able to hear Hiei degrade himself anymore, "in my eyes you've changed." She walked a bit closer to him. "You're a better person than you were before, and I'm glad... glad, that you're on our side now."

Hiei was taken back by her openness, but regained his composure soon enough. "That's only because you always see the good in people. If only you knew the things I've done. You probably wouldn't be so reluctant to standing so close to me."

"Is that so? Well, as a matter of fact, I do know!" Botan claimed tauntingly. "I've read your files, Hiei, and I know all about the crimes you've committed in the past." After seeing the questioning look he was giving her, Botan continued nervously, putting on her cat-face. "I-it's not like I only read yours! I read Kurama's too! I am Yusuke's assistant, and you guys are on Yusuke's team, making me your assistant as well. I had to read up on you both as a requirement of my job! So don't go getting any weird ideas!"

"If you say so," Hiei replied sarcastically, not believing Botan one bit.

"I'm serious here!" Botan yelled, beginning to blush. _Why, oh why does he have to be so cute! It makes it harder for me to get angry at him!_

"If you're so reluctant to tell the truth, I could just use my jagan eye." Hiei was just taunting her, he wouldn't use the Jagan for such meaningless tasks.

Botan's eyes widened. "You-you wouldn't really read my mind, would you? That's an invasion of privacy!"

He snorted, "Like I give a damn." The look on her face urged him on all the more. The concealed eye began to glow underneath his white bandanna.

Panicking, Botan clamped her hand over Hiei's forehead. "How dare you try to pry into a girls mind like that! The nerve!" She muttered, not realizing how close she was to Hiei's face.

Hiei's smirk became even cockier, if possible. "That just makes the connection stronger, onna." He pulled her closer to put emphasis on his last statement. Botan could feel her heart beating out of her chest, as she was pulled into Hiei. His arms encircled around her, and her body was pushed up against his own, rock hard one. She could feel his breath on her face, and this only caused her blush deepen. "Hiei...I-"

"Get any closer, and I'd say we were interrupting something."

Both heads snapped in the direction of the living room. To both their surprise, the whole _entire_ gang ...minus Koenma of course, was there. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Keiko, Yukina, and Shizuru, all had looks of surprise or bemusement plastered on their faces.

"I-it's not what it looks like!" Botan exclaimed hastily, eyes wide, as Hiei released her out of his grasp. "Yes, actually it is. The onna just can't keep her hands off of me these days."

Looking up at her hand, she quickly removed it, and clenched it at her sides. "He was trying to read my mind!"

"Relax, onna. I wouldn't waste my time or energy reading your mind, anyway." He crossed his arms defiantly, and heard Botan let out a small agitated growl.

Shizuru pointed at Botan. "Right, but that still doesn't explain why you were caressing his face..." Botan's eyes were as wide as saucers now, and she felt a hot blush sweep her face. "I-I wasn't! I was trying to stop him from using the jagan!"

"Sure you were," Kuwabara started as Keiko nudged him. "Guys, leave Botan alone. I believe her!" Keiko announced, sympathetically. She remembered their last get together, and how fond Botan seemed of Hiei. All this pestering couldn't be good for a growing relationship, and she'd be damned if she let the guys' taunting ruin it!

"Keiko's right, give Botan a break." Yusuke started, running a hand through his gelled hair. Everybody turned in Yusuke's direction; surprised that for once he had something productive to say.

Botan smiled. _Leave it to Yusuke to say something you wouldn't expect._

"I mean, Hiei's the one who was all over her!"

She sweat-dropped. _Or not..._

* * *

I decided to end the chapter on a humorous note since so many emotional things happened. Don't worry, I'm not gonna totally disregard that little even that happened to Hiei and Botan. It'll come back in the next chapter. I plan to update more since it's summertime, so don't worry about late updates! And so sorry to all of you who have been keeping track of this story, and waiting for an update. Yeah, I know I suck! Haha. Please review 


	7. Awkward Reunions

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

[Telepathy

((My Notes))

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Chapter 7: Awkward Reunions

Pagebreak

"Sure you were," Kuwabara started as Keiko nudged him. "Guys, leave Botan alone. I believe her!" Keiko announced, sympathetically. She remembered their last get together, and how fond Botan seemed of Hiei. All this pestering couldn't be good for a growing relationship, and she'd be damned if she let the guys' taunting ruin it!

"Keiko's right, give Botan a break." Yusuke started, running a hand through his gelled hair. Everybody turned in Yusuke's direction; surprised that for once he had something productive to say.

Botan smiled. _Leave it to Yusuke to say something you wouldn't expect._

"I mean, Hiei's the one who was all over her!"

She sweat-dropped. _Or not..._

_

* * *

_

Yusuke was left nursing an injured head as the others made themselves comfortable in Botan's living room. "I was just stating the obvious..." he muttered, grinning sheepishly at Botan.

"Yusuke!" Botan pulled him close to her and whispered harshly. "You know that I have ...well... feelings for Hiei! Why do you have to make it harder than it already is!" She looked behind her to make sure the others weren't peeping in on their conversation. Thankfully, they were too busy watching interactions between Kuwabara, Yukina, and Hiei.

The spirit detective scratched the back of his head nervously. "I'm sorry Botan! I wasn't trying to spill your secret or anything, honest. It just came out... you know? I figured you'd be the most understanding in a situation like this, seeing as you're the one who can't keep a secret..." Yusuke went on rambling, trying to prove his point. He was being honest, though. Bluntly saying things were Yusuke's specialty! It was engraved into his very being, after all!

Botan sighed. "Okay, I get it. Just please, promise me you'll try to contain yourself?"

"Loosen up, Botan." He patted her shoulder reassuringly, trying to console her. _I wonder what she'd do if she knew more than half the people in the room knew her secret..._ _Let's see... the only ones that know about it are me, Kuwabara, Yukina, and Kurama. Keiko and Shizuru have no clue. I think that's pretty good, considering Kuwabara and I were the only ones who knew... granted the secret is bound to slip to Keiko and Shizuru one day soon._ He mentally shivered. _I don't even want to think about what she'd do if she found out._ "Your secret is safe with me." Yusuke lied, walking over to Keiko and sitting beside her. The female species; they were so violent sometimes!

Following Yusuke, Botan sat down on the other side of him, seeing as that was the only spot available.

"-And your eyes are like the most beautiful rubies I've ever seen in my life! No! They're more beautiful than rubies! They're much deeper in color, and they light up my world!" Kuwabara finished rather love-struck.

"Sounds like you were trying to flirt with Hiei or something," Shizuru noted, playing with a a few locks of hair, apparently uninterested in the doting and fawning of her brother. She hadn't realized how right she sounded, as everyone's eyes landed on Hiei.

The said fire apparition twitched, but only slightly, so much that so the untrained eye couldn't catch it.

Keiko eyed him. "Now that you mention it, their eyes are a lot alike..."

Hiei clenched his fists, trying to keep himself from causing bodily harm.

Kuwabara jumped up from his seated position, clenching his fists at his sister. "Are you insane?! Hiei's are the ugly kind, while Yukina's are-"

Hiei's hand had now found its way to the hilt of his sword; the one thing he could count on to shut everybody up.

"-It's similar for demons to have the same color eyes. After all, red eyes are a natural occurrence in Makai." Kurama cut in swiftly. Botan looked to see Hiei's hands were no longer looming over his sword, but were now shoved in his pockets.

"Kurama's right! I've seen many demons with the same eye color, it's completely natural!" _Funny... I didn't notice he had his sword on when we were so close... _Botan shook all thoughts out of her head, feeling a blush come onto her face. She shouldn't be thinking about that sort of thing now, especially when there were so many witnesses to see her zoning out!

Noting the tension in the room, Shizuru sighed. "Relax, bro. It's called a joke." Kuwabara crossed his arms. "Well your jokes aren't funny." He sat down once more, resembling a two year old who hadn't gotten his way.

"Not that I mind or anything, but why are you guys here?" Botan sneaked a glance at Hiei, who was leaning on against the wall, looking quite uninterested. _If they had come another day... I wonder what might have happened... No! I need to stop thinking about this. Focus on... something, anything else!_

Kuwabara looked at Yukina then Yusuke quickly. "Well, you see... what it was, was..." Kuwabara fumbled at his words. Yusuke simply elbowed him in the stomach to get him to stop talking, while Yukina fidgeted, fingering the sleeves of her kimono.

"Yusuke and Kuwabara wanted to have some sort of reunion between us all. It was their idea entirely. They said it had been a while since the whole group got together, so they contacted everyone." Kurama once again stepped in and saved the day.

Shizuru quickly turned her head in Kurama's direction, eyes questioning. Kurama casted her a warning glance, his emerald eyes boring into her hazel ones, hoping she'd understand and ask questions later. Shizuru nodded, "That's right. These two knuckleheads are to blame for this. Isn't that right Keiko?"

The younger girl caught on quickly as she nodded her head vigorously. She felt bad lying to Botan, but it didn't look like the poor girl was up for hearing the real reasons why she was here.

Botan had a feeling that something wasn't right, but she quickly dismissed it. These were her friends. What could they possibly have to hide?

Hiei, however, wasn't so trusting. He was no fool, and could easily tell they were each hiding something. Crossing his arms, he narrowed his eyes. "Why hold it at the onna's apartment? Isn't Genkai's the usual spot for these pointless reunions?" He smirked at the numerous off-guard motions each one made.

"Having it here is a guaranteed way to make sure you wouldn't skip out on us!" Yusuke's cocky voice cut through the silence.

"Not that we really need you here..." Kuwabara grumbled defensively. Even though they were doing nothing but lying, he still couldn't have Hiei thinking he actually wanted him to be there.

Hiei rolled his eyes, muttering a curt, "Likewise."

"Guys, let's not fight! You all don't even need a reason to drop by. I'm glad you all came." Botan smiled reassuringly.

Yukina returned the smile graciously. "Thanks, Botan. Besides, I like spending time with all of you."

Botan clasped her hands together with Yukina's in a fit of excitement. "It really has been too long since we've all been together like this, so lets not waste time fighting!" She turned her head to face the rest of the guys.

"Hn." Hiei turned his head to the side, intent on tuning everyone out.

"She's really good at doing a complete one-eighty turn around, huh?" Kuwabara muttered to Yusuke as he nodded slowly, eying the blue-haired ferry-girl. "Oh well. At least she's not suspicious anymore," he answered.

How did everyone come along in the first place? Oh yeah! Now he remembered...

* * *

Kurama was sitting at his desk, doing his homework, like a good student should. That's when he was interrupted by a series of raucous knocks at his door. It couldn't have been his mother, she never knocked. Well not like that anyway. She usually lightly rapped at the door two or three times.

Wincing, he put his books away. Truth be told, he was getting a bit tired of studying anyway. "Come in, Yusuke."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Lucky guess."

"Oh, well I'm holding a little meeting here, alright?"

Sighing, Kurama nodded. There was just no point in trying to talk things over with Yusuke. "Kuwabara should be here in a little while," the said Spirit Detective noted, sitting down on Kurama's bed.

Sure enough, moments later, Kuwabara entered. "Hi Kurama." He grinned sheepishly. "So what's the deal, Urameshi? I've got Yukina waiting at my house. I wanted to show her around human world today!" He sounded a bit nervous, as if he intended to take Yukina out on their first date or something.

"I just wanted to know if you guys were up on visiting our two lovebirds today." He smirked.

"Can't we do this some other time, Urameshi? I mean today is kind of important!" Kuwabara stated, anxiously. Kurama remained silent. He was fine with it either way, and if Yusuke and Kuwabara decided to go over to Botan's, they would definitely need someone to buffer Hiei's short temper.

Yusuke fidgeted. "Well, I was kind of hoping we could do it today..."

"Trying to get away from something important?" Kurama asked.

Yusuke sighed, defeated. "It's important to Keiko, but not to me. She wants me to go see some crappy chick flick today. I figured if I told her we were all planning on visiting Botan's, she'd probably understand. I mean, I could just say it was for a mission or something..."

"But what about Yukina!" Kuwabara replied. "You know, the beautiful ice maiden that has eyes that light up-"

"-We could take her with us! She's just as bent as seeing Hiei and Botan get together as we are. Or did you forget about the day she came here, asking us if Hiei could ever learn to love? I bet she'd rather visit Botan's than go visit the town with you." Yusuke curtly cut the boy off, not really in the mood to hear his confessions of love.

The boy glared at Yusuke. "You didn't have to say it like that." Then he thought about it for a moment, remembering the way she looked when Kurama told her there was a possibility of Hiei learning to ...well... love. "I guess she would be happy to go visit them, and I could always take Yukina out another day."

"I've got no problems with it. Just don't do anything that could cause a disturbance." Kurama stood up, eying the two boys.

Yusuke stood up as well. "Got it. Could I use your phone for a second?" Catching the phone that Kurama threw at him, he began dialing Keiko's number. "Hey, Keiko. We all have to meet up at Botan's apartment today, so unfortunately I'm gonna have to cancel our plans. And I was looking forward to watching that movie with you too." He lied, smoothly.

"Botan's?" Her voice perked up at the sound of visiting her friend.

"Yeah..." He continued, a bit a confused as to why she would be so happy.

"I'm going to go too!" Keiko sounded very excited at the prospect of seeing Botan again. I_ wonder how far she and Hiei have gotten... I know she had feelings for him before, when we were over at Genkai's... I'm certain I can help her somehow!_

Taken back by the girl's outburst, yet happy that she wasn't biting his head off for canceling their day together, he complied. "Alright. Meet us at the park." He hung up the phone, a bit dumbfounded. "Keiko's coming along too."

"That's fine. The more the merrier." Kurama noted.

"Yeah and the less suspicious," Yusuke grunted.

"Oh! Can I use your phone too?" Kuwabara asked sheepishly. "Go ahead." Kurama answered as Yusuke gave Kuwabara the phone. Shizuru answered the phone. "Hi, sis. Could you take Yukina to the park for me? We're all gonna meet up at Botan's."

"Why? Is this another one of your missions?"

"No! Nothing like that!" He gulped. Unless you considered their little plans concerning Hiei and Botan a mission. "We're just going to visit. No missions at all!" He laughed nervously, never being one to lie.

She paused. "Well then I'm coming along too." Shizuru could always tell when her 'baby brother' was up to something, and she wanted to find out what it was.

"You can't just invite yourself!" He pleaded.

"I can, and I will. See you at the park, baby bro." She hung up, not giving the boy a chance to answer. Sighing, he hung up the phone as well. "Shizuru's going to bring Yukina to the park, but she's coming along too."

"It's no big deal. Besides, Kurama could always occupy her, if you know what I mean." Yusuke nudged Kurama in the ribs, with a sly grin on his face.

Kurama's eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure. "I assure you, I don't have a clue of what you mean." Kurama turned away from Yusuke, crossing his arms. Yusuke rolled his eyes at the other boy's comment. "Sure you don't, Kurama." His voice was laced with sarcasm, and he patted the redhead on the back reassuringly.

Kuwabara made a disgusted face. "Gross. You're sick, Urameshi!" Kuwabara began to walk out of Kurama's room, with Kurama following suit.

Yusuke hurried after them, not once ceasing his taunting. "You can't tell me there's nothing going on between those two. It's obvious, they like each other. Our favorite fox-boy's taken a liking to your sister!"

Both boys sighed, as they made their way to the park to pick up Yukina, Keiko, and Shizuru. By the time they got there, the girls were already at the park, talking amongst each other. As usual, Kuwabara ran up to Yukina. Yusuke walked up to Keiko, and Kurama did the same with Shizuru. Kuwabara had explained the real reason as to why he, Kurama, and Yusuke were going to Botan's, and she was thrilled.

Yusuke and Keiko pretty much kept to their own thoughts, both not wanting to betray Botan. Neither had knew the other figured out the girl's secret. Shizuru and Kurama walked ahead of the group, making idle chatter. They reached Botan's apartment in ten minutes, and that's when they found Hiei and Botan in a very compromising situation.

* * *

And that leads up to where they were now.

Kuwabara was still a bit upset about the comment his sister made, and was left glaring at her, from across the table. That's when he noticed how close she was to Kurama. Too close... _Didn't Kurama ever hear of something called 'personal space'? Hmph!_

Yukina, who was next to Kuwabara, was lost in her own thoughts as well. _I hope Hiei wasn't too discouraged by what Kazuma said. I know Kazuma didn't mean it, and he doesn't seem like one who would be affected by such trivial things. Or maybe he just doesn't let it show? Either way, I'll apologize before we leave._

Across from them was Kurama and Shizuru. Kurama's emerald eyes were focused on the table, arms crossed._ That had been a close one. Good thing Yukina didn't seem to notice anything and Hiei didn't overreact. If this had been a few months ago, I'm sure Hiei wouldn't hesitate to spill blood. He really has changed... _

On the other side of the couch, Shizuru had her head propped up by one arm, biting her lip. It was so unlike her to slip like that! _Damn that was a close call. I guess I should think before I speak from now on..._

On another couch, Keiko was fingering the ruffles on her skirt. She let out a small sigh. _I wish we had walked in later! It's not fair! If only I knew what was happening. Maybe I could've stalled! Then their relationship would be so much farther than it is now._ The brunette looked up at Hiei and Botan who seemed to be avoiding each other at all costs.

Yusuke, who was seated in between Botan and Keiko, kept on replaying the scene between Botan and Hiei in his mind, trying hard not to smirk._ If only we had come in a few seconds later. Heh. They probably would've been in the middle of a serious lip-lock session. Oh well. I'm sure by the time we leave, they'll be picking up where they left off. _The devilish grin, and glint in his chocolate brown eyes never once left his face during his thoughts.

Botan who was glancing around the room, took note of Yusuke's odd expression. Continuing her little survey of the room, her eyes landed on Hiei. He was standing there with that same blank expression he always had on his face. Never once letting his mask slip... except he had let it slip. Today, with her of all people. He did something nice for her, opened up to her, and... and... She blushed, then quickly looked away from him, casting her eyes downcast. _I really need to get that out of my head. He was probably just teasing me. It's not like he was really about to ... to... kiss me._

Hiei, who was leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and looked down at the floor._ They're all such idiots. Why they came here is a mystery to me. Hn. And they almost spilled my damn secret. If they didn't come, it'd save me a lot of trouble. But if they didn't come... then I would probably be... _Wait. What the hell _would_ he be doing? Not kissing Botan, that's for sure. He would never allow himself to give in to such foolish desires. Only weaklings succumb to such feelings. Then again, Botan wasn't just an ordinary girl. Hiei looked over at her, then caught himself and looked away. Who knows if he would've been able to stop himself, unless they came. _Maybe it's good those bakas came in when they did after all. Damn onna. _

Just then, while everyone was lost in their own musings, a portal opened up and a familiar demon crashed through. "Damn it! I never land on my feet when it comes to portals!" He got up from the floor, dusting himself off.

Botan stood up and Hiei uncrossed his arms as they both replied at the same time. "Haru?!"

Both Yusuke and Kuwabara were about to call out his name, but Kurama caught them, signaling them to stop.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite demon, and my favorite girl from Reikai!" Haru walked up to Botan and kissed her hand like he did before. It was all in good fun. Plus the way Hiei reacted when he did stuff like this was always priceless.

Hiei rolled his eyes while Botan blushed.

"Just state your business and leave." Hiei glared, eyes narrowing. For some reason seeing Haru do that only made his blood boil. Keiko and Yukina both smiled once they heard Hiei's reply. It was easy to see he was a bit jealous, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Both took notice that the other was smiling, and quickly tried to stop. Shizuru watched the whole encounter a bit confused.

_I'm pretty sure Keiko saw me smiling. If she figures out why, I don't know what I would do. I was supposed to keep the situation between Hiei and Botan a secret, but I might have just ruined it... Although I don't like the idea of not telling Keiko anything, it's not my place to reveal anything. Oh, I feel awful._

_Oh no! I hope Yukina doesn't think it was odd that I was smiling, especially right after seeing Hiei's jealousy... I know she'd be understanding of Botan's situation, but it's not something I can just start telling people. Great going, Keiko! You probably just gave it all away! I should probably just try and contain my excitement from now on! I'll just tell her I was smiling because of that new demon. What was his name again?_

"Uh, Yukina!" Keiko motioned for the girl the come forward, and they both leaned over the table. "That boy... Haru. He's very attractive, huh?" She smiled, hoping Yukina would think that was the reason why she was so happy before.

Yukina looked at her with wide, innocent eyes, before she nodded. "Yes. I know what you mean. He has... a nice personality too." Yukina smiled as well, hoping Keiko wouldn't catch on to the real reason she was smiling before. Hopefully, using Haru as a cover-up would do some good. They both mentally let out a sigh of relief, thinking they should try to contain themselves from now on.

Haru laughed at Hiei's sudden outburst. "Calm down Hiei. I'm just saying hello. Geez." That's when he took notice of the rest of the people in the room. "Oh! Hey Kurama, Kuwabara, Yusuke... and others. I'm Haru!"

Each of the girls introduced themselves, and Botan noticed something. While it was perfectly natural for Haru to know Kurama, it wasn't for him to know the other two. "How did you meet Yusuke and Kuwabara?" She pointed at the now sweating duo.

"I-it's a long story, really."

Hiei was getting sick of this 'lying game' that everyone was so fond of playing today. "We've got time. Go on." Hiei pressed, smirking at Haru's sudden expression. "Since when have you been so nosy, eh, Hiei?" Haru laughed nervously, patting Hiei on the top of his head.

Hiei growled and removed Haru's hand. "Don't confuse one question with nosiness. I asked a simple question, so answer it."

"Oh I almost forget!" Haru completely ignored Hiei's last comment. "The reason I was really here, is to tell you that Mukuro wants you back in Makai. "

Botan looked down at the floor, guilt ridden. "That's my fault." She almost forgot that Hiei had a job to do, and by her keeping him here, she could possibly get him in trouble. "I made Hiei stay here. If Mukuro wants to blame anyone, blame me." She was sure Hiei would go back to her now, and for some reason a wave of jealousy hit Botan. It was wrong of her, but she still couldn't help but feel this way.

Hiei snorted. "Don't be foolish, onna. I'm the one who agreed to the stupid deal."

Botan looked up, eyes-wide at Hiei. "But I-"

"Shut up. It's not your fault." He continued, getting tired of the way she always put things on herself.

Haru smiled deviously. "Now that we've figured out who's fault it is. I'll continue. She said you've been gone for too long, and you're neglecting your duties."

Hiei put on a smug grin. "It's only been a few days. Can't she run her part of Makai without me?"

Haru shrugged. "I wouldn't know. So what do you want me to tell her?"

"I'll be back in four days," Hiei answered.

"I'll be sure to tell her. So, what are you guys all doing? Did someone die or something?" Haru joked. He was met with silence, when they each realized he was talking about when everyone was deep in thought. When no one answered, his eyes widened. "Did someone really die?!"

"Nobody died." Kurama answered.

"So why were you all sitting here, looking like ... well I don't know. Like you've seen ghosts or something?!"

Botan laughed nervously. "I guess we all zoned out or something." She blushed as she remembered her thoughts from before. The rest of them, minus Hiei nodded.

_Sometimes, humans can be really weird._ He thought slowly. "Alright!" He saluted. "I would stay longer, but unfortunately I've got a lot of work. Nice seeing you all!" He smiled brightly.

There was a series of goodbye's and grunts courtesy of the group and Hiei, respectively. "Come back anytime!" Botan called, waving goodbye as he stepped back into the portal and left.

"I wish he'd come over more often." Botan muttered to herself, smiling.

"I don't." Hiei grunted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Why not? I really like him." She turned to find the whole group staring at her. "N-not like that! In a friendly way!" Botan breathed out.

"He's a nuisance, that's why." Hiei told her. Botan smiled at him. She knew Hiei most likely thought of Haru as a friend, but probably couldn't admit it.

"Oh! You guys are probably hungry! I'll go make snacks!" Botan began to walk off.

"Wait! We'll join you." Yukina got up along with Shizuru and Keiko, and followed Botan into the kitchen. They all began to catch up on each others' lives and share stories when Shizuru brought up the question everybody wanted to ask.

"So is there anything going on between you and Hiei?"

"What?!" Botan's eyes widened, and she began to feel her heart beat faster. Was she that obvious?

"Calm down, I was just asking. There's obviously sparks flying between you two." Shizuru pointed out.

Botan looked down at the drinks she was currently pouring. "No, not really. Hiei and I just understand each other better now, is all. He even stopped those silly death-threats! I think we're actually becoming friends!" She exclaimed happily.

Shizuru nodded. "I see."

"Well, I don't see why any girl wouldn't like Hiei!" Keiko stated. "I mean he is handsome." They all stared at her. It was so unlike her to come out and say something like that. "What?" The brunette watched as they all stared at her. "It's the truth. Come on, tell me you haven't thought it yourself." _The things I do for you, Botan._

"Keiko is right." Shizuru added slyly.

"Looks aren't everything, guys." Botan replied, although her thoughts betrayed her. She was guilty pf spending time thinking about Hiei's appearance. It was enough to make any girl melt... Catching herself, she continued. "Sometimes. Hiei can be such a jerk! He assumes he's better than everyone, and thinks emotions and feelings are a pain. And he has knack for shutting people out." Then her eyes softened. "But he's not like that all the time..."

All three women could see through Botan. The way she looked when she talked about him. She was just genuinely happy. It was nice to see her so happy over someone.

In the living room, the boys were having a similar conversation.

"C'mon, Hiei. Why don't you sit over here. We don't bite." Yusuke teased as he turned on the television.

"I'd rather not," Hiei replied, obviously annoyed.

Kurama sighed. "You could try and be just a bit more social Hiei. It wouldn't kill you."

Hiei glared warningly. "Kurama..."

"Fine," he answered.

"What's going on with you and Botan?" Kuwabara asked tactlessly. "It looked like you two were about to kiss or something." He made himself more comfortable on the couch, his eyes glued to the television.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "What the onna and I do is none of your business." He wasn't in the mood to explain anything.

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds like there's a lot more going on that we don't know about... if you know what I mean." Yusuke grinned.

"Nothing's going on," the black-haired demon said harshly, glaring at Yusuke. Thoughts of him and Botan doing... things plagued his mind, and it was all Yusuke's fault. When Hiei found that he wasn't disgusted, he became even more revolted at himself.

Kurama could see Hiei was having a mental battle, and decided to take the pressure off of him. "Don't mind him, Hiei. He's been like this the whole day."

"Hn." Hiei sighed. "I'm not surprised."

The girls walked out of the kitchen with drinks and snacks soon after. The rest of the day went by in a flash, as all their usual meetings did. Botan was happy they came over. Just for that moment, she could forget about all her feelings for Hiei, and just be happy with friends.

Hiei was too engrossed in their stupidity, and for the rest of the day he forgot all about the encounter he had with Botan.

When everybody left however, it was a different story. Botan didn't want to bring up what happened earlier today, not yet anyway. Hiei walked out of his room with his katana in hand. "I'm going to train."

"Alright, I think I'm going to turn in early. I'll see you tomorrow." She hadn't even looked at him, afraid she might start blushing.

He nodded, and left.

Botan let out a sigh after he left. Things were getting complicated now. She knew she had feelings for Hiei... and after the little event that happened, she had fallen even harder. Did Hiei actually like her back? Was he just playing with her emotions? It was too confusing. Botan let out a frustrated groan. She'd save those questions for tomorrow. Right now, all she wanted to do was take a nice warm bath, and fall asleep... without thoughts of Hiei plaguing her mind.

* * *

Yay! I updated much much faster than last time, right?! Hehe. I liked this chapter. Everyone's so secretive. Hope you liked it as well! Leave a review and tell me whatchya thought! Oh and thanks for all your encouraging reviews so far! You guys are great. 


	8. The Fourth Day

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Telepathy

((My Notes))

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Chapter 8: The Fourth Day

--

As Hiei was training he couldn't seem to get the situation that occurred earlier out of his head. Just what the hell was he doing? The point of taunting Botan was well... taunting Botan. It wasn't supposed to have a reverse effect on him! Toying with her like that... didn't exactly have a good effect on Hiei.

Dare he say it: It almost felt _good_ to be that close to 'the annoying ferry-girl.' He may have even _liked_ it.

Cursing himself silently he began to take his anger out on the trees, ruthlessly slashing his katana.

Hiei decided he would just ignore that it ever happened. He did not almost kiss her... and he most certainly did not like the feeling of her up against him like that. Nope, not one bit.

--

Botan strode into her kitchen yawning. Hiei probably left early to train, like he did every morning, and for this Botan was grateful. She wasn't ready to face him just yet. After making herself some coffee, Botan went into the living room and sat down. Putting the television on, she began to flick through channels.

The scene between Hiei and herself kept replaying in her head. The way he looked at her with those teasing eyes... the way he pulled her close... it was the sweetest torture she had ever felt in her life.

"This is so stupid! I'll just ask him about it when he gets back! That's right. I won't think about until the time comes to ask! From now on it will be erased from my mind!"

Just then, the phone rang.

Botan sighed, getting up from the couch she picked up the phone. "Hello? Oh hi, Keiko. What's up?"

"Hey. I wanted to ask about what's going on with you and Hiei."

Botan's amethyst eyes widened. _Way to be blunt Keiko. That girl is definitely spending too much time around Yusuke._ "Uh... me and Hiei? Well... I- uh, you see..." She was doing so well too... what with her agreement not to think about the prospect of Hiei and herself. Now she had no choice but to rack her brain for answers concerning their relationship.

Keiko's voice was soothing on the other side of the phone. "Botan it's okay. I know you like him already... you don't have to hide it from me."

Finally losing her resolve to keep this a secret, she confessed. "It's awful, Keiko! I don't know what to think anymore... I mean before I might have liked him a little bit. You know a small crush... but now, I have stronger feelings for him. I really like him Keiko."

"You poor girl. It'll be okay. I bet he likes you too... I mean... based on what I saw before." Keiko's voice became more sly than usual, and Botan was sure that she would have to separate Keiko and Yusuke. She was beginning to transform!

Botan smiled. "I don't know... he can be so confusing sometimes. It's hard to say what he thinks or feels."

"So just ask him." The way Keiko stated it made her situation seem so simple. If only Botan could just ask Hiei all the questions that floated in her mind.

"I know I should ask him about it, but...it's not that easy..." Botan trailed off.

"Ask who about what?" Hiei had obviously come back from training, looking a bit flushed and out of breath. He had this nagging feeling she was talking about him.

She jumped at the sound of his voice. "Hiei!... Um... uh... nothing. I was just rambling! You know me..." Botan laughed nervously waving Hiei's question off. "I have to go Keiko. Talk to you later!" Botan hung up the phone and looked in Hiei's direction.

"How was training?" She wanted to avoid asking him anything about before at all costs now. It was too embarrassing.

Hiei went into his room and came back out with a towel and a change of clothes. "It was fine."

"Do you want some breakfast?"

Hiei nodded then walked inside the bathroom.

Botan sighed, she didn't have the courage to ask him yet. She needed a bit more time.

--

A few hours passed and by the time Botan knew it, it was afternoon. She and Hiei hadn't really said much to each other, and Botan was getting tired of it. She had a plan to loosen him up... then she could ask him all the questions she wanted.

"Hey Hiei..." Botan called putting down the novel she was reading.

Hiei turned to her waiting for her to continue. "What is it?"

"Do you want to... go for ice cream? I mean it's such a nice day and all we shouldn't waste it inside this stuffy apartment! But if you don't want to go, I totally understand! I-"

"Onna, I'll go." All the ice cream in Botan's freezer was gone because everyone came over yesterday, and Hiei had been craving ice cream ever since this morning.

She made an excited noise then ran into her room. A few minutes later she came out in a new change of clothes and a happy expression plastered on her bright face. "I know this cute little shop a few blocks down! Their ice cream is to die for!"

"It better be." Hiei got up from his seated position and followed her out the door. He didn't really feel like going out into places crowded with foolish ningens, but for some ice cream, it was all worth it.

Once they reached the shop they ordered their ice cream and sat down. "So how's the taste?" Botan asked excitedly as she watched Hiei began to eat his ice cream.

"It's good," Hiei replied. It tasted like a little bit of heaven, but Hiei wouldn't let Botan know that. "For something that ningen's made." He added quickly.

Botan smiled ignoring his last comment. "I know." She looked up at him solemnly, with hopeful eyes. "Say Hiei... you've only got three more days left to live with me, after today. So was it as bad as you thought it would be?"

Hiei snorted. "Ask me that after it's over." He looked to see Botan's shoulders slouch a bit and expression get more solemn. He almost felt guilty for being so callous towards her feelings. Hiei resisted the urge to sigh at her softness and continued. "It could've been worse, onna."

Botan's pink lips curled into a smile and her eyes lit up. "I'm glad. I didn't do this to torture you, I just wanted-"

"Hiei! Is that you?" A girl's voice was heard and they both looked to the source of the voice. Botan heard Hiei groan and looked back at him.

The girl had honey brown hair, cinnamon eyes, and a chipper smile. She was very attractive and Botan found herself feeling a bit insecure around her. Hiei looked at her with disgust when she walked over to their table.

"It is you! I saw your black spiky hair and immediately knew it was you! How are you doing?" The woman seemed very happy to meet him and wasted no time in talking to him.

"Why don't you go find something more productive to do with your time." Hiei pointedly ignored her while finishing off his cone.

She laughed. "Still as crabby as ever! You are too cute!"

Hiei cringed at the word "cute," and quickly found himself wishing he had his katana again. This girl was too much. If it wasn't for his honor-code Hiei would have disposed of her already.

"Um, excuse me... but who are you?" Botan questioned hoping to get some answers. _Could she and Hiei have possibly had a relationship before? No! Why would he ever... with someone like her...!_ Botan stopped herself from thinking such jealous thoughts. Who Hiei had relations with was none of her business, and Botan knew deep down she shouldn't be judgmental.

"I'm Sarah, and you are?"

"Botan. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, dear. Anyway, Hiei saved me from some brutes a while back and we just keep running into each other! Call it fate, if you must!" Her high-pitched voice rung through the air as Botan smiled weakly.

Hiei snorted. "More like stalking." Botan had to force herself not to laugh after she heard Hiei say that.

"Hiei you are just too funny!" The brunette slapped him on the shoulder heartily while laughing. "So how do you two know each other?"

"We...uh, we work together!" Botan replied hurriedly.

"Oh so you two aren't involved, just colleagues. Makes sense. I didn't think you would be involved with someone like her... I mean she is definitely not good enough for you, Hiei."

Botan's smile dropped. Her fists clenched in anger and her eyebrows furrowed in anger. _Not good enough for him... why the nerve of that girl! I'll show her not good enough-_

Before Botan could defend herself she heard Hiei's cocky voice. "Hn. Don't jump to conclusions, baka. As a matter of fact we are 'involved,' and in case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of..." Hiei paused and forced himself to say the last part, "a date."

Hiei looked to Botan waiting for her agree. "Yes. We were in the middle of date. So sorry!" Botan replied with feigned sympathy for the girl standing in front of her.

"Well when you get tired of her and want a real woman, call me!" Sarah left her number scribbled on a small piece of paper on the table and made sure to let Hiei get a good view of her assets as she walked away from him.

"Call me when you want a real woman... The nerve of her! I mean I may not be as voluptuous as her... but I-"

"Don't let her get to you. Trust me there's nothing about her that you should need to feel jealous about."

Botan's eyes widened. "Jealous? I'm not jealous... I just... she... I'm not jealous, okay?" Botan looked down in embarrassment, cursing herself for being so foolish. Her cheeks became tinted pink and she huffed. Botan began suddenly became engrossed with her ice cream and she began eating it feverishly to avoid the situation.

Hiei smirked. "Whatever. I was just saying, she's not worth your time. You're more of a woman than she'll ever be."

The blue-haired girl felt her heart beat loudly against her chest. "...What?"

"Do you have a hearing impediment? I'm not repeating myself," Hiei said a bit too stern, angry with himself for complimenting her. He never said anything nice to anybody before.

Botan shook her head. "I heard you, it's just that I..." ..._had trouble believing you would actually say that to me_, Botan finished in her mind. "Thanks, Hiei."

Hiei nodded, averting his eyes from her gaze and caught hold of the piece of paper on the table. _I won't be needing this._ He burned it quickly leaving nothing but ashes.

Botan looked at the ashes on the table with a happy feeling swelling inside of her. "You attract some ...interesting people."

"I regret saving that woman everyday," Hiei groaned out while eating his second cone.

Botan licked her cone. "I think it was a very noble thing to do."

"She was in trouble, I helped. Nothing noble about it," Hiei answered.

"You shouldn't downplay it like that. You saved that woman's life. That's a very noble thing."

Hiei shrugged his shoulders, not know how to take her praise. He hadn't really ever been complimented like this before. About his fighting skills sure, but Hiei wasn't used to such compliments that pertained to his character.

Clearly seeing Hiei wasn't used to such things Botan changed the subject. Looking out the window she sighed. "The day is almost done, and I really don't want to go to work tomorrow." Suddenly she slapped her hand down on the table in realization. "Oh crap work! Are you sure you won't get into any trouble with Mukuro... I kind of made you take a whole week off without realizing you had things to do as well..."

"As I've said before, don't concern yourself with such things. Mukuro can deal with her territory for one week. In any case Haru says he's got things covered."

"Really? That's nice of him. He's such a sweet guy."

Seeing her expression soften at the mention of Haru, Hiei rolled his eyes. "Sweet? More like a pain in my ass."

"You don't have to be jealous, Hiei..." Botan teased.

"Shut up!" Hiei began as her rich laughter filled his ears. It sounded kind of nice... but then again she was laughing at him. "Baka onna."

"Botan," she said quietly after she finished laughing.

"What?"

"My name is Botan. It would be nice to hear you call me that more often than onna... or baka..."

"What I chose to call you is my business alone." Hiei answered arrogantly.

Botan pouted. "It wouldn't kill you to be a little nicer to me, you know..."

"Actually, it would. Just be happy I don't threaten you as much as I used to."

"You're right! You really don't threaten me anymore!" Her eyes widened as she gasped.

"What is it?"

"Do you actually think of me as a friend now?"

Hiei rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Hardly. It's just pointless to threaten you anymore seeing as you're under Koenma's protection."

"Hm... I guess that's true. Oh well. Either way I like it better when you're not constantly threatening my life."

Hiei smirked, as he thought back to better days, namely when Botan was afraid of him and didn't open her mouth so much when he was around.

--

Outside of the ice cream shop were Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama. For once, they weren't spying on Hiei and Botan... or at least that wasn't their intention. Kuwabara and Yusuke were killing time at the arcade, like they did every Sunday, when they saw Kurama on his way home. Kurama was picking up a few items for his mother when he joined up with the duo. They were all on their way home, and the ice cream shop just happened to be conveniently built on the way to all three boy's homes.

"Well don't they just make the perfect picture," Kurama mumbled while watching the pair interact.

"You know, they kinda do." Yusuke admitted after seeing how comfortable Botan was around Hiei now.

Kuwabara laughed. "Of course they do! After all, my sweet Yukina has faith in them!"

"We should go before they notice us," Kurama advised, while turning away from the shop and walking away.

"Sure thing Fox-boy!" Yusuke saluted Kurama and followed him. Kuwabara followed close after.

Kurama sighed. "I really wish you would refrain from calling me that."

--

"Hey look it's Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara!" Botan pointed towards the glass window.

Turning around, Hiei saw nothing but strangers passing by. "So aside from being a baka, you've begun to hallucinate."

"No, really, I swear they were just there!"

Getting up from his chair, Hiei dismissed her. _All that ice cream must of gotten to her head._ "We're leaving."

"But I really did-" Botan sighed, realizing Hiei didn't believe her. "Okay, time to go."

--

After changing into her pajamas and getting under her warm inviting covers, Botan attempted to fall asleep. Attempted... and failed. That stupid scene was still replaying itself in Botan's head. The only way she was going to get some sleep was obvious. She had to confront Hiei about it. Gathering up her courage, Botan got up from her bed and walked over to his room. Lightly rapping at the door she waited for him to answer, hoping she hadn't woken him up.

"Come in."

Botan opened the door to find Hiei on the window-sill, looking into the night sky. He looked so serene... and the glow of the moonlight made him look even more unattainable than he already was. "Sorry if I disturbed you. I just wanted to ask something."

"Go on."

_Come on girl, you can do this. Just ask._ "Yesterday... when you were going to read into my thoughts... what exactly happened between us?"

"It was nothing. I was just taunting you, nothing more."

"Oh. I see." It kind of hurt to hear him say that it meant nothing so bluntly, but it's not like Botan was expecting him to confess his undying love for her or something.

He thought he heard ... disappointment in her voice. No... why on the face of the three worlds would someone like Botan ever want someone like him. It was _impossible_.

"Oh, and thanks for going with me to the ice cream shop. It wouldn't have been much fun if I went alone." Botan smiled at him graciously.

_Fun_? She had fun... with _him_? Now Hiei was sure Botan wasn't entirely sane.

Upon being answered with silence, Botan went on. "Being with you today, just spending time and talking with you... I really enjoyed myself. And I know you may not think of me as your friend, but I'm glad we could talk like this."

More silence... the silence was more unnerving than anything else in the world to Botan.

"And I don't expect you to say anything it's just... well... you could at least act like you're paying attention, Hiei!"

"I heard you loud and clear. Just go to sleep Botan."

Botan placed her hands on her hips and huffed. "The least you could is answer when I'm- you said my name!"

"It's what friends do right? Or would you rather I went back to calling you baka?"

She blinked twice, then outright gawked at him. "...Friends?"

Hiei paused. "Yes, now go to sleep."

"Goodnight, Hiei." Smiling she left his room with no further replies. First he says my name, then he says we're friends. I never know what to think with that guy. She giggled remembering the way her name sounded on his lips.

"Botan!" She mocked in a voice that was way too happy to sound like Hiei's. _Hm no, that's not it..._

Clearing her throat a bit she lowered her voice and feigned annoyance. "Just go to sleep, Botan." _Bingo! That was it exactly!_ She sighed dreamily like a school girl obsessed over her first crush.

Hearing her through Botan's seemingly paper-thin walls Hiei smirked to himself. The onna was _definitely_ insane.

--

Wow. And UPDATE! After a very VERY long hiatus! I'm updating again... Basically this chapter was nothing but H/B bonding Haha. To all the loyal reviewers thanks for sticking with this story! I haven't given up on it! I'll try to update regularly! Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as the others... I'm trying REALLY hard Review and tell me what ya thought! D


	9. Revelations

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH!

Chapter 9: Revelations

--

Botan lay awake in her bed the following morning still finding herself smiling at the thought of yesterday. _Hiei said we were friends...he even said my name! Now that's what I call progress._ She would've never thought the heartless demon who kidnapped Keiko so long ago would be her house guest for a week, and she never thought she would end up falling ...in love with him.

The ferry girl pouted as she drew the covers up over her head. While they were making progress it was so hard to tell if Hiei held any romantic feelings towards her. It even sounded absurd in her mind. Hiei falling for the ditsy Botan. That will be the day when all three worlds are merged into one and united under the rule of magical bunnies. Yes, it was _that_ absurd.

It was just so hard to tell with Hiei. One minute he'd do something totally out of character and the next, he'd be giving you the cold shoulder. Although many things were confusing right now, one was clear as day. Botan had grown accustomed to Hiei's presence and felt at ease when she was with him. They didn't even have to talk, she was just comfortable being in his presence.

Maybe he was comfortable with her too. Comfortable enough to taunt and tease her. To explain his motives about Yukina. To call her a friend. _And_... Botan thought with a smile, _say my name_. Just like that Botan was back to square one. Acting like a giddy school girl with a first crush. It was sad, really it was. But right now, Botan could care less.

The alarm clock rang, breaking Botan out of her thoughts. She sighed as she threw the covers off of her figure.

--

Hiei had finished training and was taking a shower. Thinking back to last nights events he mentally sighed. The way he acted towards Bo- the onna. It was too friendly, for him at least. She was breaking through everyone of his walls and he wasn't doing a thing to stop her.

Calling her by her name for one. What the hell was he thinking? Everyone in their group had a name. Yusuke was the detective, Kuwabara was the oaf or baka, Kurama was the fox, and Botan was the onna. Why he called her by her name was beyond all comprehension. And the way she reacted to it was even more far fetched. Her features lit up like a child in a candy shop. It was so easy to please her.

Furthermore he even called her a friend. What inspired him to say such sentimental garbage was beyond him. The way she reacted when he said that they were friends, it was too much. She was _too_ easy to please. And what was worse, what made this situation unbearable, was the fact that deep down Hiei actually liked pleasing her.

The way her eyes sparkled with happiness made his heart do foreign things. Hiei wasn't used to this. He couldn't possibly have those sorts of feelings for her. She was... she was the onna after all! He shut off the water, stepped out of the shower and wrapped his towel around his waist.

Enough was enough. He thought about the onna far too much for one morning. He shouldn't be thinking about her so much. It was... unnatural.

--

By the time Hiei had gotten dressed and walked into the kitchen, breakfast was ready.

"Morning Hiei." Botan smiled at him like she usually did every morning and Hiei forced himself to look away. The way she smiled at him... he couldn't take it.

"Hn." He answered in his usual manner as he sat down.

Botan placed his food in front of him still smiling sweetly. "Did you sleep well Hiei?"

Hiei shrugged. "Same as every night."

"Did your training go well, Hiei?" She sat down on the opposite side of the table and started munching on her toast.

He began to eat as well. "I suppose," he muttered in between bites.

"That's good. Do you have anything in particular you'd like to do today, Hiei?" Botan sweat dropped. She was running out of things to ask and he still hadn't said her name yet!

Hiei looked up from his food and eyed the girl suspiciously. She was smiling a bit too much this morning and her voice was a bit too sugary. "What do you want?"

Botan looked away from his gaze putting on an innocent face. "What are you talking about? Can't a friend ask another friends questions?"

"You won't let that go will you?" Hiei was really starting regret last night. Why couldn't he just keep his thoughts to himself?

She shook her head no and her ponytail swayed with the sudden movement.

"Maybe I should take it back." The half-koorime smirked as Botan's eyes widened.

"No!" She shouted a bit too loudly. Blushing a bit she continued, "I know it was probably really hard for you to admit that, but I'm glad you did! I'm sure it didn't mean that much to you, Hiei, but it meant a lot to me. So please... don't take it back."

Hiei sighed. "You really are a baka, onna. It's already been said, taking it back won't do much good since its already out in the open."

"Onna?" Botan echoed as she frowned. "I thought you were going to call me by my name from now on!" She resembled a two year old as her pink lips formed a pout.

Hiei snorted. "I never said that. Plus I think you imitated me enough last night, if I hear your name one more time-"

"You heard that?!" She shrieked. All the blood rushed to Botan's face and her heart began to beat wildly. _I can't believe he heard that! I might as well just go crawl under a rock and die. He probably knows I like him! Good going Botan, you've ruined everything. _

Hiei smirked. "Yes, I heard it. They were just theories before, but now I'm sure you must have been born with some sort of mental illness."

Botan "hmphed" as she crossed her arms. "I'm perfectly sane, Hiei. It's just that... I get excited over the small things, okay? That's why I was repeating you." _Smooth Botan... real smooth._

"I know," Hiei said.

"So don't think it's because I'm insane or I'm harboring some sort of secret- what?" She stopped talking and stared at him incredulously.

"I said, I know. You're far too easy to please. You are the type of person who would get excited over the most trivial thing and concentrate on it for days."

She blinked. "I am?"

He nodded and continued to eat his breakfast.

_Well I guess I am a bit like that... Hm. He actually notices things about me?_ It was odd how that made her heart feel content. The fact that Hiei paid enough attention to her characteristics means there might be some hope for her crush... right? She sighed. _A girl could only hope._

They finished their meal in silence. As Botan went to clear the dishes she said the first thing that came to mind... in attempt the regain some sort of conversation between the two. "Say, Hiei..."

He glanced over at the girl, awaiting her response.

"When this is all over, what will you be doing?"

Hiei thought for a moment. "The same as I always have. Work."

_So nothing will change._ She thought sadly.

Hiei watched as her expression fell. Was she actually disappointed. What did she think he could just come back to her apartment and... and... be with her... like this?

"What's wrong, onna?"

She snapped out of her thoughts. "It's nothing. I just got used to you being here is all."

Botan had gotten used to living with him? She wasn't on edge... she wasn't fearful... she wasn't disgusted? He was the Forbidden Child. He was a criminal. He had committed so many crimes... yet she was at ease with him. It didn't make any sense. She couldn't have possibly fallen for him, could she? His birth was an unwanted, he wasn't supposed to be alive, he didn't deserve love. She shouldn't fall for him. "Don't..." his voice sounded almost pained but was cut off by the ringing of the telephone.

Botan quickly picked up the phone. "It's for you, Hiei..." Botan handed him the phone.

"What?"

"Hey bud. It's me, Yusuke. We're all going for a picnic and I was wondering-"

"Hn. I decline." He was about to hand the phone back to Botan but Yusuke's pleading stopped him.

"Hear me out. I know Botan will come, of course, but maybe you won't be so reluctant after you hear what I've got to say." The spirit detective's voice was taunting and it was irritating Hiei.

"I'm listening."

"Right. So, word on the street is... yes on the street because I roll like that-"

"-Would you spit it out already you buffoon."

"Alright, alright, fine. Kuwabara's gonna make his move on Yukina today and I thought you'd like to be there, you know, to protect your sister."

Hiei's fists closed and tightened at the mention of his sister and the oaf. He abruptly hung up the phone with a deadly expression in his ruby eyes.

"What's wrong?" Botan immediately rushed to him.

"The oaf... my sister... he..."

Botan shook his shoulders. "Pull yourself together, Hiei!"

"He wants to court my sister," Hiei spat out in disgust.

Botan sighed with relief. "That's all. The way you reacted I thought they were in danger or something!"

"That's all?" Hiei repeated. "That oaf has no right to even look at her, let alone court her!"

"C-calm down, Hiei. Kuwabara is a very caring and kind person. He would never do anything to harm Yukina, and you know it deep down. Maybe it could be good for the both of them!"

Hiei glared at her clenching his teeth. "What good is he for her?"

"Have you ever thought that maybe Yukina might like him back?"

Hiei snorted. "No." It was absurd. Hiei couldn't understand why anyone would fall for the oaf, much less his sister.

"Well I think she does. Kuwabara treats her with nothing but adoration and respect. I'd be happy if I found a guy like him."

Hiei suddenly found himself very disgusted. "So why don't you go mate him." The thought of Botan and Kuwabara was just about equally as bad as Yukina and Kuwabara.

"Don't be silly, I don't have those sort of feelings for him! You're making things very difficult, Hiei!" Botan suddenly found herself frustrated. How could he push her to other guys like that when she wanted him alone?

Hiei crossed his arms. "Hn."

Before Botan could say another word the phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Hey Botan. I'm sure Hiei told you-"

"-Yes, Kuwabara is planning on revealing his feelings for Yukina, I know."

"No, not that. We're going on a picnic, so you guys are in right?"

"Uh... sure... but what about..."

"Don't worry about it, the only reason I brought it up was so our favorite temperamental demon would show up."

"So it's not true?!"

"Of course it's true."

"Yusuke, are you crazy? Hiei will probably kill-" She looked over at Hiei and sighed. "Well since you started all of this I hope you'll take responsibility for whatever happens. I'm going to have fun and that's all, got it?"

"Sure thing Botan, I'll deal with it."

Hiei could hear the conversation from across the room with his demonic hearing. Yusuke was giving Botan the address of the park and other trivial details. But none of that mattered. He was so pissed. How his sister could see anything in that oaf was beyond Hiei.

Botan sighed. "Hiei are you going to go to the picnic?"

"I'm going."

"Look, I'm sure you don't want to hear any of this, but it has to be said. If Yukina does accept his feelings, what will you do? Will you take away her happiness by stopping her from being with Kuwabara? Think of what it will do to her. I bet she's really lonely right now, especially since she still hasn't found her brother yet. Maybe this is the best thing for her."

Hiei stopped in his tracks. Sometimes, but only sometimes, the onna was really perceptive. The majority of the time she was a clueless ditz. So why did she have to go all intuitive on him now?

When he really thought about it nobody would ever be good enough for Yukina in his eyes. Kuwabara pissed him off, but he had a similar type of honor code to Hiei's when it came to women. He probably would treat her better than most men, ningen or demon.

"I won't kill him because that's against Reikai's rules," Hiei lied. He probably wouldn't kill Kuwabara even if there were no rule against it, but he would never admit that to himself. "But if he goes one step out of line I swear I'll-"

"I got it, Hiei." Botan smiled. "Just think about what I said."

"Hn."

"Anyway, today is supposed to be about fun! Let's not ruin it with any fighting."

Hiei smirked as he thought of all the ways to fry Kuwabara. "I can't promise that."

Botan rolled her eyes. She knew Hiei wouldn't hurt anybody... well... he wouldn't mortally wound anyone today. "Well I'm going to get ready. I've got the directions written down, and everyone else seems to have prepared everything, so we're free of any duties."

Hiei nodded, not really listening. He was still upset over the news he had heard about Yukina and Kuwabara.

After changing and exiting the apartment Botan looked down at the directions. "This park is pretty far from here... it'll probably take forever to get there on foot."

"Get on," Hiei said as he motioned for her to get on his back.

She hesitated, wondering the effects of close proximity to Hiei would have on her heart. "I-I could just use my oar..."

"You'll just slow me down that way. You know I'm faster," he retorted, pride seeping through his words.

Botan handed him the directions and reluctantly climbed on his back. She hooked her arms around his upper body and her legs around his waist, not wanting to fall. Without so much of a warning he dashed off, eager to get this meeting over with.

Botan let out a small squeal and held onto him tighter as everything became a blur. "You could've warned me first!"

Hiei just smirked in response. They were whizzing past trees as Hiei gracefully jumped from one tree to the next. Looking down she gulped. It would be one hell of a fall if she lost her grip on Hiei or if Hiei lost his balance.

"S-slow down Hiei there's no rush!" Her grip on him tightened.

"Relax, Botan. I won't let you fall."

The way he said it made her heart flutter. Hiei wasn't a romantic, and she knew that. He didn't say it like the actors did in those sappy romance films. It was more of a statement, but it was filled with promise. Botan knew he wouldn't let her get hurt and let go of her fears. Once she stopped worrying, she realized it wasn't so bad.

"You know, this is actually kind of nice." She smiled.

Hiei agreed. But he was talking about their proximity... not their transportation. Having her be so close to him felt _good_. It felt _natural_. It felt _right_. Before he could give it anymore thought they reached a clearing. Hiei stopped. "Is this the park?"

Botan nodded. "It looks like we're the first ones here."

Hiei smirked, his ruby eyes full of arrogance. "Of course we are."

That's when Botan realized she was still clinging to him. "I should probably get off now." She was blushing as she let go of him and got off. As soon as she reached the ground her legs wobbled and gave way. Before she fell Hiei caught her.

"I guess I'm a little dizzy," she said embarrassed.

Hiei was holding her up, one arm hooked around her waist and the other on her back, steadying her. They were close... so close...

Holding her like this, it was like torture for Hiei. It felt good... but inside he was conflicted. He had this strong urge to protect her. When she was afraid of falling, he promised her he wouldn't let her fall, and he meant it. His heart twisted painfully at the thought of her getting hurt. Then when she almost fell just now. The urge to keep her safe; to not let any harm befall her was so strong. Why were these instincts arising in him? They made it hard to push her away like he intended to once this week was over.

Why did she mean so much to him? Why now? He was perfectly content up until now being alone. He didn't need anyone, but now all that had changed.

Botan looked up at Hiei. He looked so pained... so confused. She wanted to erase that pain... the look on his face was almost unbearable. Reaching up, Botan placed her hand on his face. The contact broke Hiei out of his thoughts and he immediately let go of her.

"I shouldn't have gone so fast." Hiei put his hands in his pockets and avoided any unnecessary eye contact.

Botan shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it." Botan couldn't even look at him. Why she touched him... she didn't know. She just wanted to comfort him.

"I forgot how weak you are," he said smirking. "Next time I'll slow down."

Botan sat down on the grass and grinned. "Whatever you say Hiei." As long as he didn't have that expression on his face, he could taunt her all he wanted. "The others should be here soon, please refrain yourself from hurting Kuwabara. Remember what I said!" She put her kitty face on and grinned even wider.

"Hn. What makes you think I have to give any thought to what you say." He sat down as well, crossed his arms defensively and frowned. Thoughts of Kuwabaka and his sister in... love... plagued his mind.

"Because..." Botan stood up and put on the cockiest smirk she could think of. "I'm Botan, Pilot of the River Styx, Grim Reaper, Head Ferry Girl, and wielder of the Oar of Death!" She summoned it and pointed it at Hiei. There was silence for a while and Botan wondered if Hiei was every paying attention to her.

Hiei looked up at her from his seated position and after a few seconds, he was no longer able to contain his laughter. "That ...is just... too ridiculous," he said in between chuckles.

Realizing how crazy she looked she dematerialized her oar, and sat down. Soon after she began to laugh as well. When the laughter subsided she pointed at him and smirked once more. "I know that laughter is just a defense mechanism. You're scared out of your wits Hiei Jaganshi."

"Of course I am." He replied sarcastically. "And while we're having revelations I might as well tell you, the fox is really an onna." Botan couldn't stop the burst of laughter that came out of her mouth and soon she was in the midst of full-blown laughter, the kind that made your stomach hurt. If she weren't laughing so hard she probably would've been in shock, unable to believe that Hiei was joking around with her. But current thoughts of Kurama wearing a dress were fresh in her mind, blocking out all thoughts of rationality or comprehension.

"Don't you two look cute." Yusuke's voice broke them out of their laughter.

The duo looked up to see the whole gang holding baskets, blankets, and bags.

"Hey guys!" Botan immediately got up to greet them. She was always glad to see her friends.

"Was the shorty just laughing? I think the world is ending!" Kuwabara joked.

The sight of Kuwabara made Hiei growl. Yusuke quickly took the demon to a secluded corner to talk. "Hey Hiei. All that stuff I said was a lie. Kuwabara wasn't planning on telling anything to Yukina... well not today anyway!"

"WHAT!?"

The whole group heard Hiei's outburst and their heads turned to the direction Yusuke had dragged Hiei off into. Deciding, they'd rather not know, they continued unpacking everything.

"You see the truth is, I only said it so you'd come out here with us. Seeing as you usually don't show up to these occasions, I figured the best way to make up something about Yukina." Yusuke stopped talking and regretted it as soon as he saw Hiei's eyes narrowed. "Whoa, there, Hiei! Calm down! Don't get too mad at me. It'll probably happen eventually, so think of this as a... a practice run! You can thank me later!" Yusuke said hurriedly as he ran back to join up with everyone.

Hiei cursed all sorts of profanities directed towards the detective and trudged back to where everyone was setting up. "Bakas all of them..." he mumbled as he walked back.

"It's such a nice day, perfect for a picnic." Botan looked to the sky as she spoke. The girls agreed. "We should do stuff like this more often," Keiko added as Shizuru nodded in agreement.

"The human world is so beautiful." Yukina muttered to no one in particular.

"It is! And there's so much more places. I'll take you wherever you want to go ice-princess." Kuwabara clasped her hands in hers as she smiled and thanked him.

Botan looked over to Hiei and saw that hey had his hand on the hilt of his sword. She put her hand on his and have him a comforting smile. Once they realized their hands were still in contact both moved away quickly, avoiding all eye contact. Still a bit flustered Botan tried to avert everyone's attention. "...Is everything set up?"

"Yup. Dig in guys, food's ready, and try not to be pigs about it," Shizuru said knowing her advice wouldn't be taken. She moved out of the way so the boys could fight like cavemen and sighed, playing with a strand of her brown hair. "Boys will be boys."

After eating, they decided to play some trivial ningen came that Hiei could care less about. He sat on the side watching and contemplating his situation with Botan, trying to come to a rational conclusion. Deep down he knew what the logical conclusion was, but he did not want to admit that. Anything but that, so he kept on thinking of possible other conclusions. A little while later, Kurama came and sat beside him.

"I heard that comment about me earlier, Hiei. I didn't know you were one to make jokes," Kurama stated in a teasing manner.

Hiei looked away, a little embarrassed that Kurama had caught him making jokes with Botan, of all people. "Shut up, fox."

Kurama chuckled. "Well I'm here, if you need to talk."

"Hn." Hiei nodded. Kurama smiled as he left to rejoin the group.

As Hiei watched Kurama walk away, he wondered if Kurama ever heard of the expression curiousity killed the cat... or rather the fox in his case. _Meddlesome fox._

--

The day went on with them just enjoying each other's company. They played a few games and Hiei joined in. Yukina was amazed by Hiei's speed. Kuwabara wasn't too happy, stating Hiei was cheating by using his super speed. No one else seemed to care, they were all just astonished Hiei actually joined in.

Night came too quickly for the group. Hiei found playing those ningen games actually took his mind off of Botan and at least served some purpose. When they started to play non-physical games was when Hiei decided to return to his much welcomed spot on the side. They were playing that blasted "truth or dare" game that got him into this whole mess. Botan giggled when he got up muttering something about useless ningen games.

"What's up with him?" Shizuru asked as they watched Hiei walk back to his usual spot.

"This is the game we played back at Genkai's Temple. It's sort of the reason why he had to stay with me for a week."

"Hiei actually fell for that?" Yusuke bellowed as he started to laugh. Soon the rest of the group began to laugh as well.

Hiei just shook his head as he wondered why fate liked to surround him with idiots.

--

About a half an hour later everyone was packing up. Within that half an hour Hiei had finally come to his conclusion. When Kurama came back to see if everything was okay with Hiei he nodded. Just as Kurama was about to leave Hiei spoke.

"I'm ready to talk, but it looks like the onna's ready to go." He saw her waving at him from the distance motioning for him to come to her.

Kurama stopped and turned around to face Hiei. "We can talk about it at some other time if you wish."

"No. I have to tell you now."

"Go on, then." Kurama urged.

"I have..." Hiei seemed to be struggling with himself, "...strong feelings for her. I don't know why, but I suddenly want to protect her. Kurama, I think I've fallen for the onna."

--

Ahhh! Oh my gosh she is back! Yep. And with an update! This chapter was just basically a lot of emotional battles and revelations and stuff. Hiei finally admits his feelings... out loud and Botan already knew from the beginning that she had feelings for Hiei. Hehe. Next chapter will be more HxB goodness. We're getting close to the end people! Thanks for your continued support and reviews. This chapter was rushed because I really wanted to update since I haven't in so long and I'm pressed for time! Please review and tell me what you thought!


	10. Everything I'm Not

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH!

Chapter 10: Everything I'm Not

--

Yesterday's events were fresh in Kurama's mind as he prepared himself for another day of school.

_Flashback_

Kurama stopped and turned around to face Hiei. "We can talk about it at some other time if you wish."

"No. I have to tell you now."

"Go on, then." Kurama urged.

"I have..." Hiei seemed to be struggling with himself, "...strong feelings for her. I don't know why, but I suddenly want to protect her. Kurama, I think I've fallen for the onna."

_End Flashback_

Hiei had actually come to grips with his feelings for Botan. It was unbelievable. Kurama had known Hiei for quite some time now, and that being said, he understood him better than any of the Reikai Tantei. For him to articulate his feelings for Botan could only mean one thing; he was serious.

Hiei wasn't the type to fall in love easily. In fact, he would probably go through his whole life fighting the idea of love and its "useless emotions." He was cold, harsh, and realistic; his life held no room for abstract things such as love. Yet it crept up on him, and with the most unimaginable person possible.

Botan; the very girl who used to have nightmares about Hiei; the one who he threatened constantly; the one who he couldn't stand to be around, ended up being the very person he fell for.

Incredulous? Yes. Impossible? No, not entirely. The way Kurama saw it; anything was possible in a world with demons, humans, and spiritual beings. He had known for a while that Botan harbored feelings for the fire-demon. And now with the new information coming into play, Kurama was left with only one daunting question plaguing his mind.

What will Hiei do now?

After picking up his school-work, and checking to see if he had all of his books, Kurama proceeded to make his way towards his school.

--

Yesterday Hiei had confessed his feelings concerning Botan, to Kurama. Now that they were out in the open, did that make them real? Were they concrete? Was it impossible to turn away from his useless emotions now? Did he even _want_ to?

Frustrated, Hiei began to make his way back to the apartment. Training lost its effect; he could no longer push his thoughts away with the swing of his blade. He couldn't go on like this. Not until he decided what he would do about his current situation.

When their deal was over, would he leave or stay?

Trudging slowly he stopped at the door of Botan's apartment. He was almost fearful of entering. Every time he was with her, he felt himself being sucked into her presence. She didn't even know the effect she had on him. Each passing moment he spent with the ditsy ferry girl, it became harder and harder to stop his feelings. It was upsetting.

Erasing these thoughts from his head, Hiei grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. She was turning him into a coward, and Hiei Jaganshi was no coward. As he stepped into the apartment, he was greeted with a view he wasn't expecting.

Botan was wearing nothing but a white towel which barely covered her eyes, and left nothing to the imagination. Hiei stood there, eyes traveling, memorizing the curves of her body. She was… _Damn it!_ Cursing himself for staring so long, Hiei forcefully averted his gaze. Botan flushed as she saw Hiei and quickly ran into her room.

Great, so aside from being a spineless coward, he was a damn pervert too.

Moments later Botan came out, fully clothed. Her face held a tint of pink in it as she walked out awkwardly. "You came back earlier than usual from training. I-I didn't realize you were home!" She laughed nervously trying to break the tension in the room.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"I'm sorry," she smiled sheepishly at him. "It won't happen again!"

He sat down. "Obviously not," his voice held a hint of aggravation within it. He was still angry at himself for staring at her like that.

Her brows furrowed at his statement. "What?" _That's right; tomorrow will be his last day here._ "Oh, you're leaving tomorrow. I forgot!" She put on a fake smile. "I bet you're just thrilled."

"Yes, because Mukuro's bitching and Haru's aggravating ways make my life complete," Hiei said as Botan laughed. She was beginning to take a liking to his sarcasm.

Making her way towards the kitchen she sighed. The apartment will be pretty lonely without Hiei, but she couldn't think of such things. She had to be strong, for now. "What do you want for breakfast?"

It seemed as thought Hiei didn't even have to think, his mouth had a mind of its own as he answered, "Ice cream."

She pondered on whether or not it was a good idea and eventually gave in. "Oh alright… fine. Ice cream it is."

--

"Kuwabara, remind me what the hell I'm doin' here again?" Yusuke bellowed as he followed his orange-haired friend.

"We're just checkin' up on our good friends," Kuwabara answered. They were headed for Botan's apartment. Kuwabara woke the detective up earlier than normal and told him to get dressed, without giving much of an explanation.

"Why?"

"It's all for my ice-princess, of course! According to their deal, time's running out for Botan and Hiei, right?"

"Right," Yusuke echoed lazily.

"And we promised Yukina it'd all work out, right?"

"Ah-huh," Yusuke nodded, trying to keep up with Kuwabara's logic.

"So that's what we're doin'. We're gonna make it right!"

Yusuke stopped in his tracks and sighed. "Well tell me something my brainless friend. How the hell are we gonna do that?"

Kuwabara stopped in his tracks. "I-uh well…" He trailed off laughing goofily. "I haven't thought about that part yet."

"I'm outta here." With that said spirit detective turned around and began walking in the opposite direction.

"No- wait!" Kuwabara stopped him, placing his hands on his shoulders. "What's the rush, Urameshi? I'll think up a plan as we go along. It's not like you got anything better to do anyway. Besides, do you actually want to go to school today, or something?"

"Hell no!" Yusuke scoffed. "It's just… something's telling me they don't need our help this time, Kuwabara."

He looked utterly confused at his friend's words. "I'm the one with the psychic bloodline, and _you're_ getting vibes?" Kuwabara pointed to the detective incredulously.

"It's not like that, baka. It's just a hunch, and my hunches are usually right." Yusuke swatted Kuwabara's hand away from his face proceeded to walk away.

Running to catch up with him, Kuwabara conceded. "Fine, but if your hunch ends up being wrong, you better make it up to my beautiful ice-maiden!"

"Sure. I'll make it up to her," Yusuke said with a perverted grin on his face. "But only because you said I should." It was way too easy to get Kuwabara riled up.

The orange haired boy growled. "Not like that you disgusting pig!"

An argument escalated into a fight and the duo then began to cause a disturbance in the middle of the street. It was just another normal morning for the two.

--

"I'm off to work, Hiei." Botan straightened out her kimono as she walked out of her room.

He nodded.

"There are leftovers in the fridge and money on the table in case you want to go out and buy ice-cream or something."

Hiei nodded once more.

"I shouldn't be too long today, if anything comes up you can contact me with the communication device."

"Onna, I understand. Just go," Hiei urged. She was always like this when she left him alone. He was alone for most of his life, anyway. He wasn't an invalid; he could get by. He definitely did not need to be smothered by her affections.

"Okay, okay I'm going! Don't make a mess while I'm gone!" She teased as she left the apartment.

Hiei rolled his eyes at her stupidity and switched on the television. His plans for the day were simple: seek guidance from the fox. He knew he would have to wait a while until Kurama was finished with school, so all that was left was to pass the time. As he flicked through the television channels, he remembered why he hated ningens so much. _I can't believe they waste their time watching this garbage._

Barely ten minutes had passed since Botan left, and Hiei found he was unbearably bored. Why did the onna always pester the toddler for vacations? She couldn't possibly intend to waste her time like this, could she?

Damn.

There he went again, thinking about _her_. Hiei growled as he gripped the remote harder than he intended.

"Ah, ah, ah. Botan wouldn't be happy if she came home and found out you'd broken her… eh, what is that thing, Hiei?"

Releasing the remote, Hiei looked up from his seated position. "…Haru," Hiei began exasperated. "What do you want?" The half Koorime was not in the mood for Haru or his tricks… not today.

"Relax, Hiei." The demon grinned, green eyes sparkling, as he waved Hiei off.

"I'm not in the mood." Hiei stood up. "So just state your reasons for coming, and be on your way."

Haru's mouth twisted into a pout and his eyes narrowed. "You're never any fun!" Hiei growled, and at this Haru continued. "I came here to tell you that Mukuro wants to see you ASAP." He conjured up a portal. "C'mon my vertically challenged friend, let's go." He waved, urging Hiei to make his way to the portal.

Hiei clenched his fists. "She can wait."

"Nuh-uh," Haru replied as he shook his head. "She says she needs to see you right away. The faster we get there the faster you can come back to your lover- ugh." Haru rubbed his stomach, wincing. "It was just a joke, geez, Hiei. You should really let loose sometimes." The demon looked up to see Hiei had already walked through the portal, leaving him in the dust.

"Hey, Hiei, wait up!" Haru caught up to the fire-koorime and smirked. "Impatient, are we?"

Hiei was silent as they walked through the dark corridors. Passing by soldiers, servants, and the like, they finally made their way to Mukuro's chambers. Hiei entered Mukuro's lair, Haru right behind him.

"You wanted to see me?" Hiei wasted no time with formalities.

Mukuro smirked. "You haven't been neglecting your duties, have you?"

"The great Mukuro can't manage without her second in command?" It was Hiei's turn to smirk now. His arrogance was expected and Mukuro thought nothing of it. If he came back to her any other way, she would be concerned.

"Of course I can. I'm just making sure you haven't forgotten where your loyalties lie. You leave without an explanation to play house with a ferry-girl and-"

Hiei glared. "Don't confuse it, Mukuro. I made a…" He thought for a moment. "…promise. And I intend to keep it."

Mukuro laughed. "That is so like you, Hiei. Your complicated honor-code seems to get you into more trouble than good."

"Hn."

"In any case, don't let her change you. I don't need a weakling as an excuse for my second in command."

"She and I will part ways tomorrow, and we'll both never have to here from her again." His voice dropped icily. "Do you understand?" Hiei paused. "Don't even think about bringing her any harm."

Hiei turned his back on Mukuro and began to walk out. "I'll return tomorrow."

"The portal is right outside waiting for you," Haru called as Hiei slammed the door shut. Once they were sure he was out of range, Haru began to crack up. "I told you, didn't I? He's totally in love with her!"

Mukuro let out a small chuckle. "It was just as you said," she responded.

"Yup. Maybe now Hiei'll lose the scowl, and he won't look like he's constipated all the time. She'll change him for the better."

"You know what?" Mukuro began, "You might be right on this one."

Haru's eyebrows quirked up as he faced Mukuro's direction and began to speak in his collected, "reserved-for-the-ladies-only" voice. "Because of my brilliant deductions, is it safe to say I'm due for a reward?"

Mukuro eyed him suspiciously. She had known him too well by now. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Do I get to raid your unmentionables?" A perverted grin etched onto his face, but was quickly removed. "Ow! You and Hiei have got to stop hanging out together," Haru claimed as he nursed his injured head.

--

"Fox," Hiei said as he blurred into Kurama's room.

"Would it kill you to use the door once in a while, Hiei? My mother's bound to realize-"

Hiei crossed his arms. "Hn. That doesn't concern me right now."

"Right. Well I'm all ears, Hiei."

--

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever been to your house, Keiko." Botan smiled as she entered the room.

Keiko motioned for Botan to sit on the bed with her. "So you and Hiei…"

Botan blushed. "Aha. What about the two of us?" She put on the kitten face she wore so well and feigned ignorance.

"Botan! Don't pull that with me. What's going on between you two?"

--

"I told you all there was to tell yesterday, at that foolish picnic."

Kurama was lost. "So why are you here right now?"

"I need you to tell me what to do, fox," Hiei retorted bluntly.

Kurama tried in vain to hold in his mirth, but soon it came out in chuckles. Hiei looked at the red head as if he were crazy. "What the hell is so funny?"

"Hiei, I can't solve your love problems. The decision rests on your shoulders alone."

"Hn." The temperamental demon glared and crossed his arms. "I should've known not to come to you." He began to stride towards the window, intent on exiting Kurama's room.

"Hiei, wait." Kurama called out, stopping Hiei from exiting through the window. "Your feelings for her, are you sure they aren't just lust?" Kurama knew they weren't, but he needed Hiei to come to terms with how he truly felt for Botan.

"Of course not you baka. I can control lust… but this feeling, it's…" Hiei licked his lips as his mouth ran dry. "I can't ignore it, no matter how hard I try."

"You know what this means don't you?" Kurama answered. When he was met with silence, he went on. "You're in-"

"-Stop. Listen to yourself Kurama. It's ridiculous. She's… she's Kurama's top ferry-girl, and I'm a demon. It's absurd."

"We've seen and experienced much weirder things, Hiei."

"I don't think you're listening, fox. She's the loud-mouthed, infuriating onna. She's the hopeful fool that puts the well-being of other's ahead of her own. She's pure and innocent… she's everything I'm not."

Kurama's eyes softened. "Love is blind, Hiei."

"But why her. She deserves more than I can give, more than I'm willing to give," Hiei confessed finally.

"Give yourself a chance. Even you can learn to love."

"I don't want to," Hiei said hurriedly.

"It's too late for that; you're already in too deep."

Hiei sighed as Kurama went on. "Look, if you decide to stay with Botan, you have to be with her wholeheartedly. If you're able to push past all this self-doubt and be with her, you've got to protect not only her heart but her well-being. You're Mukuro's second-in-command. I'm sure you've got some enemies, even without that title. It wouldn't be beneath some to use her to get to you. I believe in you, now all that's left is for you to believe in yourself."

"Perhaps you were of some use, fox." With that said Hiei vanished.

--

"Nothing's going on between the two of us, Keiko, and that's the truth." Botan looked down. "That's the way it was meant to be."

"Says who?" The brunette declared determinedly.

"Hiei could never have feelings for someone like me."

"Someone like you?" She echoed.

"Hiei's brave and fearless." Botan's eyes softened as she thought about the demon. "He's a powerful and respected. He's fiercely loyal and dependent. He's, well … he's everything I'm not!"

"Don't count yourself out, Botan!" Keiko patted the girl on the back. "You've got tons of great qualities too. You're-"

Botan smiled at her friend's attempts. "-It's okay Keiko. It's pretty obvious Hiei doesn't feel the same about me, no matter how many good qualities I've got. Even if I had dared him to stay a year, it wouldn't change his feelings for me."

"What?" Keiko started at Botan in disbelief.

Botan's eyes widened and began to wave her hands around frantically. "Don't get me wrong, this past week has been one of the best weeks of my life. Hiei and I are much closer because of it, and that's all I need."

"Are you sure?" Keiko's eyes narrowed, inspecting her friend's facial expressions.

Botan nodded. "I'm thankful I got the chance to spend so much time with him. He even said we were friends." Botan smiled at the memory. "Really, I'm okay, Keiko. I better get going."

"I'll see you later then…" Keiko hugged Botan, and then the ferry-girl departed.

--

As Botan entered her apartment she let out a small sigh. It was definite now. She would have to let Hiei go. It was bad enough she basically forced him to live with her for a week, she couldn't possibly ask him to stay. Revealing her feelings towards him would not only make things awkward between them, it could possibly cause a rift in their already unstable relationship.

She wanted to end things on a good note. Rather than draw out his stay, Botan figured it would be a pleasant surprise (for him, at least) if she broke their agreement, and let him leave now. Her heart felt heavy at the thought of Hiei leaving, but it was for the best… really it was.

When Botan reached Hiei's door she stopped. It was now or never. Before she lost her fortitude, Botan took in a deep breath and knocked on the door.

--

Hiei was lying on his bed, replaying his conversation with Kurama in his mind. He wasn't willing to put Botan in danger, and Kurama had unknowingly given him the solution to his problem. Risking Botan's life to satisfy his growing feelings towards her was not something Hiei would do. It was out of the question. Just knowing she was safe was enough for him. He had finally found a good enough reason not to stay.

If he had succumbed to his feelings and confessed to Botan, and if by chance she felt the same way, who knows what harm could come her way. His job was dangerous; he wouldn't drag Botan into that type of peril. The less he thought of her, the safer she was, and the better of they both were. Hiei smirked to himself; he would have to thank Kurama for his advice one day.

A knock on the door broke Hiei out of his thoughts. "Come in." Botan walked in to find Hiei lying on the bed, his eyes closed.

"Did I wake you?"

"No." He seemed at ease, much more than usual.

"Say, Hiei." Botan put on her best grin and tried to sound as cheery as possible. "When we've parted, will you come back… to visit?

"Probably not."

"Oh." Her eyes fell and her voice lowered an octave. "Well I guess that's all there is too it, then…"

"What are you babbling on about, onna?" Hiei cracked open an eye slowly to look at the girl before him. Something about her expression was off. Her shoulders were slightly hunched and she was looking towards the floor.

"Onna…" He called to her again and her gaze shifted from the floor to his face. Her blank expression changed into a smile and she put her hands on her hips.

"Hiei … you can leave. You've got work. You have your life in Makai. It's wrong of me to keep you here, anyway."

"What?" His gaze bore into her own. Did she not want him around anymore?

"I know the deal was intended for you to leave tomorrow, but, I see no reason to keep you here against your will. I've had my fun!" She lied, keeping the same strained smile on her face.

She had her fun? This whole week was nothing but her selfish attempt to have some amusement? The thought angered him. Here he was, going through utter agony, while she was just playing around. Hiei had gone through many days having her effect his every thought… while she hadn't given any thought about him and his feelings when she dared him to live with her.

She was the one who came up with such a ridiculous proposal, and in the end, he was the one who suffered from it. Hiei got off the bed and made his way towards Botan. Stopping in front of her, he replied, "You were the one who wanted me here in the first place. You shouldn't be so fickle, onna." He continued to make his way towards the door.

Her amethyst eyes widened. "Hiei, that's not it!" Did he actually think she didn't want him here?

He stopped and turned to her smirking. "Don't bother. You were the one who came up with the proposal, not me. It's not like I wanted to be confined to this apartment, anyway." His voice was so cold, so filled with contempt, it made Botan want to shiver. His ruby eyes held nothing but indifference when he looked at her, and his mouth was twisted in that same contemptuous smirk he wore so well. It reminded her of the days when they weren't friends, back when he was evil.

In an instant she had regretted her decision. She didn't want to go back to being the annoying ferry girl who was afraid of him. She liked being so close and comfortable with him. Botan grabbed his arm in an attempt to make him stop.

"Let go." It was better this way. He'd leave, and they could go back to their normal lives, away from each other. It's the way things were meant to be.

"No. Not until you hear me out first."

He glared at her, his crimson eyes piercing her amethyst orbs. Botan wasn't afraid. She was determined to make him see what he meant to her. If this had occurred a while back, she wouldn't have been so brave in front of him, but things were different now.

"This past week meant a lot to me, Hiei. You've opened up to me so much… I never would've thought I could feel so comfortable and at ease with you around. I've gotten so used to you being here that the apartment will probably seem empty when you're gone. The truth is I don't want you to leave."

"Stop." What was she doing? He had just gained the resolve he needed to leave her and his emotions revolving around her behind in this apartment. Every word she uttered seemed to crack at his resolve, threatening to break it.

"I used to be afraid of you, you know. I don't know when or how, but now I'm at ease when you're near. I don't get nervous or fearful, in fact I feel safe when you're around. I feel like nothing and nobody can hurt me if you're here with me."

"Onna…"

"Underneath all those death-threats and insults, you're no different from the rest of us. You experience the same things we do; you feel the same way we do. You cover up your emotions and harden your heart, but behind that cold exterior, is a person I admire. More than admiration … I-"

"Don't," He warned.

"I've fallen in love with you, Hiei."

"You shouldn't have said that," Hiei said in a strained voice as he grabbed her shoulders.

Her eyes widened. "What?" Botan hardly had time to think as she was pulled closer towards Hiei, and his lips were on hers.

--

Ohhhh my, MystiKoorime updated?! Haha. Yes I did. Don't worry this isn't the end. I think I've got one more chapter in store for this fanfic, and then it's the end. Wow. That makes me sad. Thank you for all the reviews I've gotten so far. I think I have the best reviewers in the world, because even though I take forever to update, you guys still follow my stories. Your reviews make my day! I had fun writing this chapter (even though it took me forever to update), and I hope you all love it too! Thanks again, everyone!


	11. I Love You, Onna

Everything I'm Not

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH!

Chapter 11: I Love You, Onna

--

"Underneath all those death-threats and insults, you're no different from the rest of us. You experience the same things we do; you feel the same way we do. You cover up your emotions and harden your heart, but behind that cold exterior, is a person I admire. More than admiration … I-"

"Don't," He warned.

"I've fallen in love with you, Hiei."

"You shouldn't have said that," Hiei said in a strained voice as he grabbed her shoulders.

Her eyes widened. "What?" Botan hardly had time to think as she was pulled closer towards Hiei, and his lips were on hers.

--

Their kiss wasn't anything like Botan had expected. It was rough, despite his soft lips; fervent, yet restrained. She could tell he was holding himself back. His hands were traveling slowly to places that made her want to melt into him and Botan couldn't help herself as a small moan escaped from her lips.

Hiei snapped back to reality when he heard Botans small mewl. He took a deep breath, trying to control himself.

"…Hiei?" She questioned, unsure of what to say next. She was flushed and out of breath.

The fire-koorime looked disgusted with himself. How could he enjoy it so much, when he knew this was _wrong_? It wrong on so many levels, but to him it felt just right. He was not supposed to be doing _this_ with _her_.

"Onna, you don't know what you're doing."

Her wide eyes gazed into his own and it only infuriated him more. She was so innocent and he was tainted. Could she not see that?

"I'm not… I'm not who you think I am." He advanced closer and Botan didn't know why she felt like retreating. It was suddenly like the mood had changed completely. Reflexively Botan took a step back.

"You don't know the terrible things I've seen." At his words Botan continued to step back until the walk blocked her movements.

"…The things I've done." He grunted cynically. "If only you knew you wouldn't look at me the way you do. You would loathe me if you did."

Her amethyst eyes widened as she shook her head. "It doesn't matter." Her voice was barely a whisper, but she knew Hiei heard her. Botan mentally kicked herself at her wimpy answer, but it was all she could say at the moment. She needed to get through to him.

Hiei's crimson eyes narrowed upon hearing her small confession. He grabbed her shoulders and roughly pushed her against the wall. Forceful enough to scare her, not enough to cause harm. With his hands still on her tensed shoulders he stared right into her eyes.

"You're not listening, onna." He growled. "For all you know I could be the same ruthless demon you met all those years ago. I could slit your throat and not cast you a second glance. That is who I am. I haven't changed at all."

Botan's gaze was just as intense as his. She showed no fear of backing down. "I know what you're trying to do. My mind is already made up, Hiei. I love you for who you are now, not who you were back then." Her voice had regained its normal tone and she no longer whispered. She was sure of what she was saying.

"I've killed people, countless people. Without fear or hesitation, I did my job and I did it well. I never felt regret. I only moved on." His voice became gradually louder with each sentence. "I didn't care that I had taken life. It was my duty and I fulfilled it. Is this the man you love?"

She stared straight into his eyes and there wasn't a trace of apprehension or uncertainty. "Yes."

"And you're telling me…" His face moved inches away from her. "…that you aren't afraid of me at all. You know what I'm capable of. You know the gruesome things I've done. And you're not afraid?"

"I'm not," Botan answered unwaveringly with a spark of determination in her eyes that Hiei had never seen before. Something in him snapped and he couldn't resist her anymore. The sight of such a pure and strong-willed woman dissipated all of his restraints. She was no longer the easily manipulated ferry-girl that he could scare with just one glance. She held no ounce of fear towards him, and she knew exactly what she was getting herself into.

His hands moved from her shoulders and wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him. He claimed her lips for the second time that night, but it definitely wasn't the last.

--

Botan woke up that morning to the phone ringing incessantly. She shot up from her peaceful slumber only to feel colder than usual. That's when she noticed… she was naked. Her eyes widened as she wrapped the covers around herself. Memories of last night flooded her mind and she blushed as she eased her way back to reality.

She looked to the empty spot on the bed only to find Hiei had already left. He was probably out training or something, she figured. Smiling a little, the ferry-girl got up from the bed and into the bathroom. She was in need of a nice long shower.

--

Kurama was in his room sipping some coffee when Hiei appeared at his window. Last night had been a late one, what with Yusuke and Kuwabara making his room "Hiei and Botan HQ." It was ridiculous; they had come up with all sorts of absurd plans to get them together, despite Kurama telling them to leave the two alone. He was tired, groggy, and a tad on the frustrated side. Those two never learn. And to top it all off, the poor kitsune had to wake up to get ready for an event at Genkai's Temple.

He turned to Hiei and opened his mouth to speak, but something was different about him. He looked even more smug than usual. "Something the matter, Hiei?" Kurama asked good-naturedly as he took another sip of his morning coffee.

At Hiei's answer, Kurama's eyes widened considerably and he spit out his coffee, coughing a bit. When he got over his little choking episode, Hiei was already gone. His mother had called for him through all the commotion.

"I'm fine mother," He called down to her, inhaling slowly. The other demons blunt declaration was at the forefront of his mind. _'The onna and I mated last night.'_ Kurama shook his head as he looked towards the windowsill where Hiei previously stood. That demon was something else, dropping such a big bomb on him and acting as though it were nothing. But Kurama had already grown used to Hiei's antics. If he had relayed the information in any other way, then the redhead would have been truly worried.

Elsewhere, Hiei was making his way back to Botan's apartment. He figured he owed it to Kurama to tell him, seeing as the fox was the one who helped him out a great deal last night. When he woke up he decided he would get a little training done, tell the kitsune, and return before Botan woke up. 

--

When Botan finished showering and got dressed, the phone was still ringing. She picked it up and to her delight, it was Keiko.

As Hiei walked through the door he noticed Botan was on the phone and slipped in quietly to his room. After getting his clothes and towel he made his way to the bathroom, not wanting to know if Botan would pass on all the details of last night to the girl. He knew Botan was a blabbermouth and ningen gossip between women was common. He didn't understand why ningens told every detail of their life to others, and he wasn't about to stick around to hear if Botan would do the same.

"I've been trying to call you since last night, Botan. What's got you so busy?"

"Uh… well you see it's just that I was really busy last night. I had lots of things to do. Yup, lots of things to do." Botan babbled on, her usual cheery voice filled with anxiety.

Keiko was a smart girl; she put two and two together. "Botan… did you and Hiei…" She trailed off not needing to finish her sentence.

Botan nodded then let out a small, "Uh-huh."

The brunette squealed. "That means everything worked out! Tell me everything! I want every last detail. Who confessed first?!"

At her last question, Botan faltered. Then it was her time to let out a frantic squeal. "What is it?!" Both Keiko and Hiei said at the same time; Keiko through the phone and Hiei through the bathroom door. He opened the bathroom door and stuck his head out, concern etched through his features.

She waved Hiei off first. "It's nothing, you can go now. I'm fine, really!" She smiled to him and he just shrugged as he closed the door.

"Keiko!" Botan whispered, not wanting Hiei to hear her. "I told Hiei of my feelings first, but I don't recall Hiei ever saying he loved me back!

"Oh no! Are you sure?"

"Positive! I know I'm a bit scatterbrained at times, but even I would remember something like that!"

"…Maybe he just forgot?" Keiko questioned trying to remedy the situation. "I mean he's got to feel the same for you if you two slept together. I'm sure of it. Plus, Hiei isn't the mushy type. Maybe he just needs some time?"

"Thanks Keiko," Botan said her sullen tone striking a chord in Keiko's heart.

"Oh that's right I forgot. I never did tell you the reason why I called so much, did I?" Keiko teased.

Botan blinked. "No… I suppose you haven't."

"Well we're all at Genkai's right now. I called last night to invite you, but well… you know why I didn't get through. You both should join us. We can talk some more face to face and try and solve this whole situation."

"That's great, we'll be there!" Botan completely brightened at the thought of a get together. At the moment, she wanted to be anywhere else but here. In her small apartment, she and Hiei would be left alone, and she wasn't ready to confront him yet.

"Okay, see you there." Keiko hung up and Botan sighed as she walked over to the bathroom door.

"Hiei, we're going to Genkai's today. They're having something and well… I know you don't like gatherings but I'd appreciate it if-"

"-I'll go." He cut her off and Botan was surprised that she didn't even need to coax him or pull the Yukina Card.

"Great, well I'll just meet you there then!" She exclaimed.

Hiei wasn't really listening anymore at this point and continued to shower. When he didn't object she hopped on her oar and sped off, eager to avoid her embarrassing situation.

As she flew through the blue skies her mind was in torment. She berated herself for not realizing sooner that Hiei hadn't admitted he felt anything for her. It was horrible. She continually spilled her guts to him last night and he hadn't said a thing about his feelings.

What's worse is the fact that she slept with him. _He was my first! And I don't even know if he feels the same as I do. Way to go girl, you really messed up this time_!

--

By the time Hiei came out of the shower, he realized that Botan left. He too got dressed and sped off. It was odd of her to leave like that. He was curious as to what was running through her head.

When he reached he searched for her spirit energy only to find she hadn't arrived yet. He waited patiently by the doors and soon enough she arrived. As she landed she saw Hiei leaning against the door, with his arms crossed.

"Hiei! You got here fast!"

"Everyone knows of my speed. But the real question is why you were in such a rush to get here?"

"Well Keiko called and she needed help setting up so I figured I'd leave before you." Hiei still stared at her and she continued. "To help out, of course."

_Bullshit._ "I could've gotten you here in half the time it takes you to fly. What's the real reason?"

Botan smiled nervously putting her kitty face on. "There's no other reason Hiei. Don't be silly!" She slapped his arm half-heartedly and laughed.

"Onna-" Hiei was just about to answer but someone opened the door and since Hiei was leaning on it, he fell on his behind.

Botan took this as a sign from Enma and rushed inside to join up with the party.

"I knew I heard you two out here!" Yusuke bellowed. "Whoops, sorry, didn't see you there Hiei!" He attempted to help the grumbling demon up, but Hiei wouldn't accept his help.

"Hey where's the fire, Botan?" Yusuke called to her as he watched her retreating form. He turned to Hiei. "What's up with her, Hiei?"

The demon just growled and pushed passed him without a word leaving the Spirit Detective alone. Yusuke rolled his eyes and followed Hiei inside.

As they entered Hiei found that everyone was there, including Haru. Wait, Haru? Who the hell invited him?! He sighed hoping the demon wouldn't see him, but like always, Haru's eyes pinpointed Hiei like a hawk. "Hey, buddy!" He shouted jovially as he made his way over to Hiei.

"Isn't it great? Mukuro gave me the day off so I decided to spend it in the human world!" Haru's green eyes were as playful as ever.

"Good for you." Hiei walked away from Haru, but persistent as he was, he just couldn't get away. The boy followed Hiei like a puppy following its owner. "Is there something you want?"

"…No you just seem different today." He put his finger on his chin in thought. "I just can't figure it out, though. What is it…"

"It's nothing," Hiei retorted, finally giving up all efforts to shake Haru. He figured if he just ignored him, Haru would go away. He had other things occupying his mind and Haru was not on the list.

Ever since this morning Botan had been acting strange around him, it was almost like she was avoiding him. Was she not satisfied with his performance last night? No, that couldn't be it. Definitely not. Hiei was more than adequate and he was sure she was pleased last night. A smug smirk appeared on his face and all further doubts in his mind vanished.

"Hiei? Hiei! Are you even listening to me? Hello?!" Haru's commotion caused everyone else to take notice of his expression. He began to shake Hiei in attempt to knock him out of his daze and Hiei finally came to senses.

When he came to, he noticed all eyes were on him. He immediately regretted zoning out and glared at everyone. "Is something the matter?" He asked ominously, his dark tone giving everyone the chills.

They all immediately shook their heads and went on with their business, not wanting to anger the menacing fire-demon anymore than they already had.

"You're really creepy, you know that Hiei?" Haru mentioned as he walked off to a table filled with food. Hiei snorted, not giving a damn and went to his favorite corner.

At that moment he was sure Botan wasn't avoiding him, she just had other duties to take care of, but as the day wore on, he wasn't so sure anymore.

She only came to him to make sure he had eaten and was okay. She spent most of the day on the opposite side of the room as him. She hardly looked his way. Most of her time was taken up by others. It was unnerving and Haru's incessant chatting was not helping him in the least.

Lost in his own thoughts and the occasional ramblings of Haru, Hiei didn't even notice the others as they openly talked about his relationship with Botan and their secret meetings.

Yukina, Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama were all seemingly having a nice chat of their own in one corner of the room, while Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan were preoccupied with their own ramblings in another corner. Botan had given Keiko and Shizuru a censored version of last night, only giving them the essential details. She confessed to Hiei, he tried to push her away, they slept together, and the next morning she realized he never told her about his feelings. The two brunettes were trying to comfort Botan and reassure her that Hiei's feelings were the same as her own, but Botan wasn't so sure anymore.

On the opposite corner three quarters of the Reikai Tantei and one ice maiden were discussing their own findings. "Something is obviously not right." Yusuke whispered.

"Yeah they're both acting different today. First Hiei with his freaky facial expressions and then there's Botan. She looks like she's totally avoiding Hiei." Kuwabara observed.

"Something is weighing heavily on her heart. I wonder what it is." Yukina questioned aloud, her innocent ruby eyes drifted towards to ferry-girl.

Throughout all their conversation, Kurama hadn't said a word. "Wait a minute. Youko got your tongue, Kurama?"

The redhead snapped out of his thoughts turning his attention to the detective.

"You've been awfully quiet throughout this whole get together. Not even a 'You should let them sort out their own affairs,' or a 'I don't think this is the right approach,' from you. You know something, don't you Kurama?"

All eyes turned to him, but Kurama kept his cool. "We should let them sort out their own affairs."

"Ah but that implies that something is going on. And that means you know something that we don't." Kurama was almost taken back by Kuwabara's sudden keenness. That is until the boy opened his mouth to speak again and began to whine. "C'mon you gotta tell us Kurama, it ain't fair!"

"No," Kurama answered simply. It wasn't his business to tell.

Yusuke smirked. _So that's how he wants to play it, eh?_ "I thought we were all a team, Kurama. If you're keeping secrets from us how can we ever help those two clueless lovebirds?" Kurama hated when Yusuke's mouth twisted into an impish grin and his eyes glinted with mischief, much like they were now.

"Plus you wouldn't want our little ice-princess to feel like you don't trust us. Especially when she wants to help out the most…" Yusuke trailed off putting his hands on the smaller girl's shoulders and pushing her closer to Kurama.

Yukina looked up at him with her innocent child-like eyes. "If there is any information that could be helpful to us, please don't withhold it."

Kurama sighed. "Hiei might have mentioned something along the lines of them confessing their love to each other." Kurama decided to sugar-coat the details. He didn't want the whole world to know about what happened last night.

"That's great!" Yukina's eyes shone with happiness.

"…So why are they acting this way now?" Kuwabara asked, unable to figure out what was going on.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to let them work it out on their own," Kurama replied.

By the time their conversation had ended, Hiei had grown tired of it all. He decided he would figure out what in the hell was bothering her and sort it out. Hiei snapped out of his own thoughts only to find everyone segregated in their own little groups. He was beginning to grow tired of all this secrecy, but that was another problem for another day, right now he was determined to talk to the onna, alone.

Leaving Haru behind, Hiei marched up to the ferry girl. "We need to talk, now." He grabbed her wrist and led her to one of the rooms in Genkai's Temple. Naturally everyone else saw and curiosity got the better of them. They all followed and waited by the door, trying to catch a piece of the conversation.

"…Hiei that was very rude!" She scolded.

"I don't care."

"Well… what did you drag me in here for?"

"You know damn well. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm fine!"

"You say so, but you clearly aren't. You've been avoiding me the whole day. This isn't because of last night is it?"

Botan looked down, avoiding all eye contact. At her silence he continued.

"Is it?" He echoed louder, urging her to answer.

"…It is," She replied meekly.

Hiei looked utterly confused. "It can't be. You were more than satisfied last night, I'm sure of it."

Upon hearing Hiei's words, the few who didn't know about the events of last night tried to hold in their sounds of surprise.

Botan yelped and covered his mouth. "No, it's not that! I wasn't talking about _that_! That was… was…" She was at a loss for words and almost as red as Kurama's hair.

Hiei smirked. "I know Botan. You don't have to say it."

She rolled her eyes at his cockiness. "The real reason why I'm avoiding you is because I'm embarrassed, okay?"

"Embarassed?"

"I told you how I feel about you. You already know that I love you… but you…" She looked him dead in the eye. "You never said anything about loving me back!" Tears sprung to her eyes but they didn't fall. She wouldn't let them. "I don't even know what I am to you… just a one night stand? Or… or…" She trailed off.

He sighed stepped closer to her. _That's what this was about._ He closed the distance between the two of them and hugged her. "I thought it was obvious how I felt."

"It wasn't all that obvious to me." She wrapped her arms around feeling comforted by his warm presence.

He quietly told her the words she was dying to hear, fully well knowing that the others were all outside eavesdropping. "I love you, Onna."

"Thank you Hiei," she breathed, feeling the weight lift off her chest. She was so relieved to know he actually cared for her. He hugged her for a moment longer before letting go and kicking the door down. "I thought you all would've learned by now not to meddle in the affairs of others."

They all ignored him as they rushed into the room. The girls all went to Botan hugging her as she laughed. "I told you he loved you back!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Yeah there was nothing to worry about!" Shizuru patted her on the back.

"I'm so happy for you, Botan.," Yukina said wholeheartedly.

"Thanks guys. You were right." She beamed.

Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged high-fived and congratulated each other. "We did it, partner." Yusuke smirked as Kuwabara nodded.

"You two do realize you had nothing to do with this right?" Kurama asked.

"…Let's let them live in the dream world for a little while longer," Haru replied.

Hiei stood there shocked, although he didn't let it show. "You all… knew about this." It was more of a statement than a question.

Slowly the others shook their heads afraid of Hiei's wrath. "I guess we all kinda figured that you guys liked each other." Yusuke started.

"We just gave you guys a good push in the right direction!" Kuwabara finished.

"But I am surprised. I mean who would've thought Hiei would get lucky before me!" Yusuke just didn't know when to quit.

"Er… guys…" Botan called but they continued to chat, ignoring Hiei's clenched fists.

"Who would've thought the short could get lucky in general!" Kuwabara sniggered.

"…Please calm down, Hiei!" Botan pleaded.

"Yeah and with Botan of all people!" Yusuke began to laugh. "Never in a million years! She's all flowers and rainbows and ponies and butterflies and glitter and…"

Botan stopped trying to calm the fire-demon down and glared at the tactless duo. "They're all yours Hiei."

And with that, Hiei sped off, chasing the two detectives while they yelled and begged for their lives. The others looked on and laughed at Yusuke and Kuwabara's misfortune. Botan smiled as she watched the half-koorime, no _her_ half-koorime chase after the spirit detectives. She never would've thought in a million years that Hiei would return her affections, but he did, and the loneliness that had been eating away at her day by day was gone.

She knew they were completely different in every way; everything the other was not, but they completed each other and that was all that mattered.

--

THE END

--

Oh man it's finally over. I just woke up this morning and felt like finishing something before summer vacation ended. It's been fun. I really love this story and I hope you all are pleased with how it ended. Please review and let me know how it turned out. I hope it met your expectations. Thank you so much for keeping up with this story despite all the long waits. You guys are the best reviewers ever. Love ya! Thanks again.


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